The two dead victims have not yet been identified and are awaiting autopsies by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for the State of Maryland, Hamill said.
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A total of about 120 firefighters all responded to the scene and fought the blaze for approximately six hours.
Police and canines are were initially searching for five to seven people, Goldstein said.
Temporary shelter has been established for those the fire had an impact on, being housed at the Long Branch Community Center at 8700 Piney Branch Road. Hamill did not give a specific number and said the cause of the blast was still being investigated.
Fire and Rescue spokesperson Pete Piringer said paramedics sent 31 residents and three fire and rescue personnel to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries following an explosion late Wednesday night. Many stayed on the scene to comb through the wreckage for signs of trapped residents and to extinguish smoldering spots.
He said the Red Cross had set up cots in the gymnasium and was preparing to begin helping people find more permanent shelter.
He said building managers and the fire department had not received reports of problems before the blast and fire occurred. Fire officials said that the Red Cross was on hand to provide aid in the form of essentials like food and water.
Goldstein said natural gas furnaces and stoves are in each of the units.
Numerous apartment complex residents are immigrants, officials said.
MC 311 will not be able to provide the location of missing persons but will get the information to fire investigations for follow-up. “When she escaped her first-floor apartment, the fire was right in my face”.
“It was a big boom, the building shook and everybody ran out”, she said. “I tried to knock on the door and windows”.
Carden said those who were displaced are primarily Spanish speakers.
He said the nature of the explosion has been especially traumatic.
“I just see fire everywhere”, she said. “I was at the scene and there’s someone’s shoe here, someone’s sock there and someone’s papers over there”.
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The families are devastated, but they are also holding out hope.
