A nearby industrial warehouse, the Watson Grinding and Manufacturing facility, had exploded.
Cruz went to the emergency room and was eventually released. He moved his wife and their two children into a hotel because their home was destroyed.
Two weeks later Cruz died, his lawyer says, from those injuries.
The explosion ended up damaging more than 470 homes and businesses, injuring at least 18 people and killing three.
Edward Castillo
The explosion aftermath at Watson Grinding and Manufacturing in Houston on Jan. 24, 2020.
Down the street, Frank Peters said he was working on home repairs when he was thrown against a wall. I was just convinced it was an atomic bomb, Peters said. You know, dirty bomb or something terrorism.
Not Forgotten: Stories Of Houstonians We Lost To COVID-19
More than 300,000 people have died of COVID-19 in the United States. Here are some of the stories of people we’ve lost in the Houston area.
December 21, 2020, 6:00 AM
Three-hundred thousand. That was the latest grim milestone passed in the United States: More than 300,000 Americans have now died from COVID-19. Of that number,
more than 3,000 people have died right here in Harris County, more than any other county in the state of Texas.
But the COVID-19 death toll is more than just a statistic. Each number represents a person. Whether they’re police officers, security guards, educators, preachers or artists, every individual helps make up the very fabric of their community, across the country and here in Greater Houston. And as the death toll from COVID-19 rises, such monumental loss is reflected in the city itself.