Very sad, I also heard people joke about it. I honestly don't understand how anybody could have thought it was funny. There was a bit of residual anti-Americanism in the air at that point, left over from Jimmeh and friends, but still...
I have got to confess, I even made a couple of the jokes myself, somethnig about "what goes up in one piece, and comes down in a million" after I got to work that evening.I had even talked with some of the employees, on how it may had been possible, if it had been terrorism(remember, at the time, Lybia was our enemy)
One of my cowokers ,who was friendly with me at the time(and later became a close friend) heard this, and she scolded me harshly for doing so(and rightfully so, how juvinelle of me).
But right away, I knew that somehow, a hydrogen leak, or something was resopnsible for the explosion. soon after, they revealed the burn-through problem, caused by bad o-rings.