A gas explosion tore through a neighbourhood in the US city of Baltimore today, killing at least one person, injuring four, and trapping children, as the blast destroyed at least three homes, firefighters and local media said.
The Baltimore Sun reported it was a natural gas explosion, citing fire officials, but said the exact cause remained unknown.
The blast destroyed three brick row homes and ripped open the wall of another, spreading debris throughout the neighbourhood, as rescuers picked through a pile of rubble, searching for victims.
One woman was killed, four people were hospitalised in serious condition, and firefighters were trying to rescue a sixth person, the Baltimore City Fire Department said on Twitter.
At one point, at least five people were trapped, some of them children, the Baltimore Firefighters IAFF Local 734 tweeted.
Neighbours responding to the blast dug through rubble and called out for victims, one man told WBAL television.
"It was just chaos," Dean Jones told the station, saying he ran barefoot to the scene where he found destroyed homes and broken-out windows, and smelled gas.
"We were just worried about just trying to get people out. Once they said a kid was in there, I lost it. I said I had to get in there now," he said. "I am not a hero, I'm a human."
#BCOFD // House Explosion// Multiple units from Baltimore County has been requested to assist Baltimore City Fire Department with a house explosion. ^MJ pic.twitter.com/zUQwrYcJ3K
— Baltimore County Fire Department (@BaltCoFire) August 10, 2020
One neighbour told the Baltimore Sun he could hear shouts from trapped children.
"Come get us! We're stuck!" came the cries, Kevin Matthews, a US Occupational Safety and Health Administration building inspector who lives on the block, told the Sun.
Matthews found one person buried from the neck down and another sheltering in a closet, the Sun said.
People felt the blast miles away and neighbours said their windows were blown out and doors blasted off the hinges, the Sun reported.
