Police say pressurized tank likely cause of fatal Maili blast
Advertiser Staff
A man who was apparently killed about midday yesterday during an explosion at a home in Maili may have been trying to pressurize or de-pressurize a tank of some sort, a police homicide detective said this morning.
Friends identified the dead man as 46-year-old Tony O. Macabio.
Lt. William Kato, of the homicide investigation unit, said there were no scorch marks on the victim or in the room where he was found.
Investigators, however, did find pieces of a tank that may have exploded.
Kato said investigators also found an intact, full-size oxygen tank and were told that it was used to supply the man's elderly mother with oxygen before she died.
Residents along a stretch of Heleuma Street in Maili were finally allowed to return to their homes about 1:30 a.m. today after being evacuated about 8:30 last night while police and firefighters investigated a report of an explosion and found a man's body in the house where it occurred.
HPD spokeswoman Michelle Yu said a neighbor, 62, heard a loud explosion earlier in the day and went to check the victim's house around noon. Finding nothing suspicious, he went home and did not call police, Yu said.
Around 8 p.m., the neighbor went back to check again and this time discovered the victim's body, Yu said.
She said police believe the man who was killed was the lone occupant of the house.
The police bomb squad and Honolulu Fire Department's hazardous materials team were called to investigate and police evacuated homes along Heleuma, between Laulele and Hookele streets.
Police Maj. Frank Fujii said investigators were not allowed into the home until the structure was cleared of any explosive device or other hazards.
"A witness within the house observed signs of an explosion and a person who appears to be a male victim in the house," Fujii said last night.
Contrary to much speculation, there was no indication the victim was attempting to cook up a batch of crystal methamphetamine, Fujii said.
Police have classified the case as an unattended death, meaning foul play was not immediately suspected.
