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5th body found after apartment explosion; search continues

A third body has been found in the rubble from an explosion and fire this week in the Washington suburb of Silver Spring, Maryland, and others remained missing as authorities continued to investigate on Saturday, according to police statements.

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Officials say the body was found Friday afternoon.

It is unclear which came first, the large fire or the explosion at the Flower Branch Apartments.

The three victims have not been identified.

In one call, a distressed woman said, “Oh my god, I’m freaking out”, before giving the dispatcher the address of the apartment building on Piney Branch Road.

The four bodies have been taken to the office of the chief medical examiner in Baltimore to be identified.

Fire officials on Thursday had initially said five to seven people were unaccounted for.

“Our investigators are still working with family and friends of the building’s residents to confirm identities of people who remain missing”, Hamil said. Authorities are urging anyone with information on the whereabouts of those missing to contact law enforcement.

Witnesses described Thursday’s explosion as if a bomb exploded with debris scattered more than 110 yards.

The Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has joined Montgomery County Police and Fire in trying to determine a cause of the explosion. Residents reported smelling gas prior to the explosion, and officials responded to calls for a potential gas leak at the complex last month.

Fifty fire and rescue personnel are working on the recovery efforts, but the movement of debris presents a challenge. “It’s too unsafe”, Dave Steckel, the county’s acting fire chief, told reporters Sunday.

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The Montgomery County Police Department said those people are believed to be in one of the apartment buildings at the time of the explosion. Roughly 100 people a night have stayed at a Red Cross shelter established at a nearby community center. “That’s pretty sad. It’s like they didn’t take us seriously”.

Missing Victims from Md. Apartment Explosion