Two people are dead and dozens more injured after an explosion sparked a massive fire that engulfed an apartment complex in a Maryland suburb of Washington, D.C., officials said Thursday. “The movement of debris itself presents a challenge”.
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About 150 firefighters rushed to the scene, where several residents had to be rescued from the upper floors.
About 30 people, including the three firefighters, were treated at local hospitals, fire department spokesman Pete Piringer said in a recorded statement. Fire officials on Thursday had initially said five to seven people were unaccounted for. Officials say the building is a collapse hazard and they are trying to make the structure safe.
A third body was found in the wreckage of an Maryland apartment building Friday, and police warned that the death toll could rise in the explosion and fire that devastated two buildings late Wednesday.
Montgomery County police are working alongside federal agents from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to sift through the site in Silver Spring for clues to the cause of the August 10 blast, they said.
The joint investigation between the MCPD, the Department of Fire and Rescue Service, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is ongoing and the possible cause/causes of this fire are still under investigation.
“It’s a collapse hazard, which is a risky situation for the personnel”, acting county fire chief David Steckel said.
In all, 34 people, including the three firefighters, were taken to hospitals for treatment.
Residents reported smelling gas before the explosion, and officials responded to a potential gas leak at the complex on July 25.
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Nine hours later, firefighters on a ladder truck were still using a hose to put out the last of the fire and smoke still was rising from the building. Officials said they suspended rescue efforts in the debris and switched to recovery mode. “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. He said investigators have accounted for 110 residents of the buildings. While Montgomery County is one of the nation’s wealthiest communities, the neighborhoods inside the Capital Beltway in this section of Silver Spring are working-class areas, home to large numbers of Central American immigrants.
