Five people were killed, including a toddler, after a house exploded in Pennsylvania Saturday morning, demolishing three structures and damaging numerous more, according to authorities.
Allegheny County officials received 911 calls at 10:20 a.m. reporting a house explosion in Plum, Pennsylvania, roughly 20 miles east of Pittsburgh, with “multiple injuries and several houses on fire,” according to a statement given by the Plum Police Department.
People were trapped beneath the debris, two houses were on fire, multiple residences were damaged, and it appeared “as if one house had exploded,” according to first responders. “There are three structures that have been destroyed, and at least a dozen more that have been damaged in some way,” authorities added.
Three people were sent to surrounding hospitals, one of whom was in severe condition and the other two of whom were treated and released. Authorities say the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office will release more information on the deceased people.
At least 18 fire agencies used water tanks provided by Allegheny and Westmoreland counties to help put out the fires.
“This is certainly a sad, sad day and a sad time, not just for the folks in Plum, but for all the folks in the community and in this region,” Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald said, according to The Associated Press.
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‘It looks like a war zone,’ a Neighbor Observes
The cause of the explosion is being looked into by Plum police, county law enforcement, and the county fire marshal’s office, according to the AP.
Three homes away from the home that exploded, George Emanuele claims he and a neighbor ran to the house right away following the explosion and carried a man who was lying in the backyard away from the site, as reported by the Tribune-Review. A few homes away resident Rafal Kolankowski claimed that the explosion rocked him and his wife to the ground and smashed the windows in his home.
“It’s just tragic, I mean, it looks like a war zone — it looks like a bomb hit our neighborhood and it’s just unfortunate,” Kolankowski said. “I was just with some of the neighbors yesterday, right, and now this happens.” Follow us The Current Online for more updates.