Sunrise Propane trial sees new video

A tearful director of the Sunrise Propane depot was shown on a newly released video Tuesday, overwhelmed during a police interview after an explosion that killed one employee, levelled several buildings and forced 12,000 people in the Downsview neighbourhood to flee.

"I worked basically 13 years for nothing," Shay Ben-Moshe tells Toronto police officers at 31 Division. "Not only this, I'm sorry about what happened."

The interview was shown as evidence on the second day of the trial. The company faces several charges under provincial labour and environmental laws for its role in the Aug. 10, 2008, explosion that changed the lives of those who live near the fuel depot at 62 Murray Rd., in the Keele Street and Wilson Avenue area.

Lawyers have pleaded not guilty to several charges on behalf of Sunrise Propane and hope to show the explosion was an accident, not negligence.

This is the first time the public has heard Ben-Moshe's comments about the explosion. He insists that before the incident the facility had been so safe he regularly took his children there.

"Safety, we didn't have any issues with safety," he said.

The court also saw new video of the explosion from several security cameras, including doors being blown open at nearby buildings.

The trial is expected to last about six weeks.