Joaquim Marques helped to save Frank Conroy from an impending explosion, Etobicoke, Ontario, September 11, 1995. Conroy, 38, and a co-worker were inside an excavation beneath a city street, working on a natural gas line. A massive eruption of gas under high pressure in the line blew them, and the protective cage in which they worked, out of the excavation and onto the street. They remained in the cage, badly injured, as the gas vented loudly and forcefully nearby, blowing debris high into the air. A member of the same work crew, Marques, 47, fitter, had been standing near the excavation when the blast knocked him to the ground. He ran from the site and, while stopping traffic, saw other men remove Conroy’s co-worker from the cage. Then seeing Conroy inside it, Marques ran into the escaping gas, knelt at the cage, and pulled Conroy out. Joined by two of the other men, Marques and they removed Conroy to a point across the street. As gas continued to blow from the excavation, the immediate vicinity, containing two filling stations, was evacuated. Conroy required extensive hospitalization for severe injury. Marques was treated at the hospital for scratches and bruises, and he recovered.
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