Among those injured were three firefighters, treated and released after a large-scale rescue effort in which some people dropped children off balconies in the garden-style apartment to safety below.
Advertisement
Fire officials said earlier Thursday that at least five people were missing. Television footage showed flames and smoke pouring from the building as firefighters rescued a man from an upstairs apartment window. The blast scattered debris as far as 300 feet (90 meters) from the building, Piringer said. “Subsequent investigation of the premises has resulted in the identification of two decedents located within the ruins of the building”, Hamill added.
About 150 firefighters rushed to the scene, where several residents had to be rescued from the upper floors.
Goldstein told reporters that the injuries “ranged from minor to serious”, the Post reported.
Washington Gas, a unit of WGL Holdings Inc, which provided service to the complex, said in a statement it was helping in the investigation.
The blast tore through the four-story building shortly before midnight in Silver Spring, Maryland, said Pete Piringer, a spokesman for the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service.
At least two people were confirmed dead in the fireball late Wednesday at an apartment complex in Silver Spring, a suburb north of the nation’s capital.
Carden says people have been coming and going throughout the night as arrangements are made for temporary relocation of the displaced residents.
But there was a hole in the ground caused by the explosion and she wasn’t able to hang on to him. “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.
Tim Firestine, the county’s chief administrative officer, said the county received a call at 10:16 p.m. July 25 about a smell of gas at 8701 Arliss St. and fire and rescue personnel responded at 10:20 p.m. “It was one big boom, like nothing I’d ever heard”, he said.
The American Red Cross is assisting about 100 people with a place to stay – 60 are staying at a shelter set up at a nearby community center. “I’ve never seen a fire like this in my life”.
Advertisement
Carden said those displaced are primarily Spanish speakers.
