Real estate agent dies 7 months after Ind. blast

GARY, Ind. (AP) — A real estate agent has died nearly seven months after she was badly burned in an explosion at a northwestern Indiana house she was preparing to show to a client.

The Post-Tribune reports that 52-year-old Patricia Conforti of Hobart died Tuesday. She was taken to a suburban Chicago hospital's burn unit after the explosion in March at a vacant Gary house.

The Cook County medical examiner's office said a final ruling the cause of her death hasn't yet been made.

Authorities say a utility worker was at the house the day of the explosion to shut off its service, but Conforti apparently ignited a natural gas explosion when she turned on a light.