https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/authorities-identify-sixth-victim-in-silver-spring-apartment-blast/2016/08/25/51eaf1ca-6b09-11e6-ba32-5a4bf5aad4fa_story.html
Silver Spring fire: ‘He was friendly for everybody.’
Seven victims died in an Aug. 10 explosion at a Silver Spring
apartment building. (Photo by Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post) (Bill
O'Leary/The Washington Post)
By Dan Morse and Victoria St. Martin August 25 at 6:31 PM
Montgomery County authorities identified a 34-year-old man Thursday as
one of the seven victims killed in a Silver Spring apartment explosion
and fire earlier this month.
Aseged Mekonen is the sixth victim to be identified from the blast
that occurred shortly before midnight Aug. 10 at the Flower Branch
Apartments on Arliss Street. Remains of seven people were found in the
rubble after what officials have said was a natural gas explosion that
remains under investigation.
Residents stumbled down a crumbling stairwell and leapt from
balconies. Seven people didn’t make it out: Five adults, ages 34 to
65; and two children.
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[Two young fire victims were buddies: one love Spider-Man, the other Minions]
Among friends and family, Mekonen -- who delivered injera, the flat
spongy Ethiopian bread, to local purveyors and also drove a taxi cab
-- was known as someone who was at once hard-working and always
willing to stop to say hello.
Aseged Mekonen, 34, was the sixth victime identified from the Aug. 10
explosion.. (NA/Montgomery County)
“He was friendly for everybody,” said Tigist Atreso, the owner of the
TG Silver Spring Mart in downtown Silver Spring, which sells injera.
She said that Mekonen, a native of Ethiopia, often asked her about
owning the shop, and said he wanted to build a business like that as
well. “He had a big plan,” Atreso said.
Around the corner, at the Wesenyelesh International Market, Andrew
Zewdu recalled with a laugh how you could often hear Mekonen coming --
by the sound of hip-hop music coming from his delivery van. “He was a
nice guy. Always happy,” Zewdu said.
He also worked as a valet car parker, Zewdu said.
“He barely rested,” added Aida Zewdu, another employee at Wesenyelesh,
who said her mother--the owner of the market--once found him asleep
behind the wheel of a parked vehicle. She asked him why he was working
so hard.
He laughed and told her he was trying to get to her level.
[Seventh body found at site of Silver Spring apartment blast]
Federal pipeline investigators continue to review the blast to
determine, among other items, the source of the gas leak and what
ignited it.
Received on Thu Aug 25 2016 - 20:58:07 EDT