– Two young boys are among those missing after a fiery explosion ripped through a Silver Spring apartment complex that started late Wednesday night.
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Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Chief Scott Goldstein confirmed that the explosion has resulted in the collapse of one building that has yet to be identified.
Blast debris was scattered almost 200 feet, including what appeared to be an apartment door blown all the way across a two-lane road and parking lot.
The department tweeted photos that showed a building at least partially collapsed and rubble strewn on the street in front of it.
Fire department spokesman Pete Piringer said in a tweet that 160 firefighters and EMS workers, from Montgomery County and beyond, were on the scene at the mass casualty incident. It was not immediately clear how many people were rescued, or how the rescues were conducted.
Family members can also check up on relatives who may have been affected by the fire at “reunification centers” at the nearby Long Branch Community Center and the Rolling Terrace Elementary School in Takoma Park.
Chief Goldstein says that the explosion in the complex only caused one building to collapse, but four other buildings in the Maryland complex are in danger of collapsing.
Regional disaster director Paul Carden said Thursday those who were displaced are primarily Spanish speakers.
“I’ve gone to the emergency rooms, Holy Cross, Shady Grove, nobody knows”, Jimenez said. Residents reported smelling gas before the explosion, and officials responded to calls for a potential gas leak at the complex last month. The two buildings resembled the site of a bomb blast with a gaping hole left in them.
Corey Price, who lives in an apartment building next to the location of the explosion, said he woke up after someone frantically knocked on his window.
Laines’ mother, Rosibel Morales, said she thought it was a dream. She hasn’t seen him since. “When she escaped her first-floor apartment, the fire was right in my face”. “I was thinking nobody can survive in that fire”. We went out to the hallway and all the neighbors were getting out, running.
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“It was a big boom, the building shook and everybody ran out”, she said.
