Nilesh “Neal” Patel was awaiting the birth of his first child when a natural gas explosion at the hotel he was building in Smyrna caused severe burns that resulted in his death 10 weeks later. Now the 43-year-old’s wife is seeking to hold Southern Company, its subsidiaries and Gas South liable for the incident.
Dina Patel filed a lawsuit in the Fulton County State Court on Aug. 30 against Southern Company, Southern Company Gas, Atlanta Gas Light and Gas South, alleging they failed to properly odorize the gas supplied to the hotel and warn contractors that the odor could fade.
The lawsuit seeks more than $7 million in medical expenses and other damages.
Neal Patel and a plumber were inside a maintenance room on the fifth floor of the Candlewood Suites Hotel on Corporate Plaza in Smyrna, unaware that the room had filled with natural gas, when the plumber sparked a lighter on Nov. 11, 2022, case records show. Both were extensively burned in the ensuing explosion.
Neal Patel spent more than two months in Grady Memorial Hospital’s intensive care unit before he “eventually succumbed to his injuries” and died on Jan. 21, 2023, the complaint states. His medical bills allegedly exceeded $7 million.
“But for the actions and omissions of each of the named defendants, this incident does not occur, Neal does not get hurt, accrue medical bills, and ultimately die,” the lawsuit says.
The plumber survived but was badly injured, Dina Patel’s attorneys said.
A spokesperson for Southern Company and Atlanta Gas Light declined to comment “as this is active litigation.” A Gas South representative said the company had received and was reviewing the complaint, about which it had no immediate comment.
A Cobb County Police incident report filed in conjunction with the lawsuit states that the gas to the hotel’s water heaters was not turned off at the time of the explosion. The plumber was hired to maintain the water heaters and other workers were maintaining the connecting gas lines, the report states. It says Neal Patel, who owned the building, was in the maintenance room checking on the plumber’s progress.
“The room slowly filled with flammable gas that was ignited by the lighter,” the report says.
In her complaint, Dina Patel alleges that natural gas is typically mixed with chemicals to give it a distinctive smell as a safety measure, because natural gas is otherwise “invisible, odorless, highly flammable, and dangerous.” She said the odorization of natural gas is governed by multiple laws and industry standards.
The Atlanta-based gas companies sued in relation to Neal Patel’s death failed to properly odorize the gas supplied to his hotel while it was under construction, Dina Patel claimed. She said the gas that filled the maintenance room housing the hotel’s tankless water heaters was “undetectable, unreasonably dangerous, and negligently and recklessly defective.”
The gas companies also failed to warn hotel contractors that the odor of the gas could fade when placed in new piping and or left in a pipe for extended periods of time, Dina Patel alleged. She said “odor fade” is a “highly dangerous phenomenon” known to the gas companies, which could have easily warned contractors about it.
In addition to compensation for Neal Patel’s medical, funeral and burial expenses, his wife wants the gas companies to be punished financially for their alleged liability.
“We look forward to representing this very deserving family who has been through unspeakable tragedy,” said Matthew B. Stoddard, an attorney for Dina Patel.
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