Most of the people hospitalized after a deadly explosion and fire in a Washington D.C. suburb have been released, hospital officials said late Thursday, but investigators still don’t know exactly how many may be missing in the blast.
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Police investigators have not yet identified the three victims.
Hamill said that investigators have accounted for about 110 people residing in the building, and he said they are still asking family and friends to contact them “until we can account for everyone who is in the building”. Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service division chief David Steckel said the building still presents a “collapse hazard” to investigators and rescue crews, and that hot weather has made their working conditions hard. He says because of the conditions of the bodies, officials weren’t able to identify age or sex.
Steckel said 50 fire and rescue personnel were working on the recovery efforts.
Eddie Macario said he lives in the building where the fire started. The whole apartment is on fire, from bottom to top.
Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service Chief Scott Goldstein had said earlier Thursday that between five and seven residents could be unaccounted for. Other people are missing, but authorities have not determined an exact number.
There have been reports of many injured civilians, including some that were burned, as well as firefighters who were hurt during the incident.
The bodies of two people were removed from the wreckage and were sent to the medical examiner’s office for autopsies and identification, Hamill said.
Residents reported smelling gas prior to the explosion, and officials responded to calls for a potential gas leak at the complex last month.
Police said an unknown number of residents remain unaccounted for.
In all, 34 people, including the three firefighters, were taken to hospitals for treatment.
“When we arrived on the scene, we found people doing rescues using ladders from construction and paint trucks”, Goldstein said. “There were, like, people jumping out the window, like screaming for help and kids screaming because a lot of kids were scared”, she told WJLA.
Anyone seeking to locate loved ones from the complex can receive immediate assistance at the nearby Rolling Terrace Elementary School in Takoma Park, officials said.
The Red Cross was working with families to determine their needs.
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The American Red Cross and local officials have set up a temporary shelter at the Long Branch Community Center in Silver Spring for displaced occupants, like Mariana Turag. This includes the preparation of derivative works of, or the incorporation of such content into other works.
