People react after a deadly explosion at the parish center of the Church of Our Lady of La Paloma in downtown Madrid Jan. 20, 2021. A priest and a member of the parish were among four killed in the explosion, which was caused by a gas leak. (CNS photo/Reuters/Susana Vera)
Vatican City A young priest ordained only six months ago was among the casualties of an explosion at a parish center in Madrid.
The Archdiocese of Madrid confirmed Jan. 21 that Fr. Ruben Perez Ayala, a priest at the Church of Our Lady of La Paloma, died in the early hours of the morning due to internal hemorrhaging he suffered after the blast.
âIt was like an earthquake, I thought a bomb had gone off.â That was one witnessâs account of the explosion that ripped through a building in central Madrid at 2.56pm on Wednesday, at number 98 Toledo street â just a kilometer from the landmark square Plaza Mayor and 15 minutes on foot from the central Puerta del Sol.
The seven-story building was destroyed in the blast, leaving at least four people dead and 10 injured. According to source from the emergency services, all the evidence points to a gas boiler that exploded. The building in question was the Church of the Virgen de la Paloma parish center. It contains office space, a shelter run by the charity group Cáritas, a meeting room, a living room and three housing units for priests.
Megan V. Winslow/Town Crier
Los Altos Hills resident Vazgen Babayan walks behind his house along an easement that will eventually be used to build a 1,100-foot path connecting Robleda Road with an existing path stretching from La Paloma Road.
In a perfect world, pedestrians, equestrians, adjacent neighbors and even the humble dusky-footed woodrat would be content with the plan for extending the La Paloma-Robleda pathway. The Los Altos Hills project isn’t quite there yet, but it’s close.
The Hills Planning Commission voted 4-1 Thursday to accept public comments and an environmental report about construction of the proposed off-road pathway connecting the two roads and forward them along to the city council for further review.