but miscalculated its power. Satirist Michał Ogórek says that people were also talking among themselves that the incident was part of an inner-party conspiracy, aimed at Edward Gierek and his cabinet. Danuta Szmit-Zawierucha, author of several books about Warsaw, confirms this speculation: "People said that the Rotunda had been blown up by the Communists themselves". One final rumor stated that the explosion was caused by a mysterious anti-Communist organization, which wanted to blow up the building at midnight, when it was empty, but messed up the timing. The real cause of the explosion was a gas leak from a damaged pipe located underneath the sidewalk. The gas got into an underground telephone connection and gathered in the basement of the Rotunda. Frozen water and snow clogged all the air vents, and in those circumstances, one spark or the turning on of a light in the basement, was enough to ignite the powerful explosion. The Rotunda itself did not have a gas connection. The low temperature caused the odorant to condense, and nobody was warned of a leak. Several people, however, still do not believe in this explanation. Edward Gierski, who commanded the search and rescue operation, also has doubts: "Despite all official reports and photos of damaged valves, I am still not sure if the explosion was caused by leakage in a gas pipe. I saw the foundation of the building, which was one meter thick. It broke in half, and it is difficult for me to believe that an underground gas explosion would have caused such destruction". Victims and aftermath A list of victims was published in all the Warsaw newspapers, and condolences were sent by Edward Gierek and Leonid Brezhnev. Every year on the anniversary of the explosion, the management of PKO Bank Polski organizes a special celebration, which is attended by families of the victims, Warsaw authorities and the bank's managers. Furthermore, there is a commemorative plaque, placed in the northern wall of the complex. The Rotunda was 70% destroyed, and the decision to rebuild it was announced by newspapers as early as February 17. The government of Poland regarded it as a priority, so every day, hundreds of workers cleaned the site and then started construction. Originally, re-opening was scheduled for July 22, 1979, which in Communist times was a national holiday. The project was overseen by a co-designer of the original Rotunda, architect Piotr Zajlich,