Leaking tanker truck explodes in Los Angeles, injures 2

LOS ANGELES — A 9,000-gallon tanker truck leaking gasoline caught fire and triggered multiple explosions in Los Angeles on Sunday, igniting surrounding structures and sending a huge column of black smoke into the air, authorities said.

Fire officials arrived at the scene about 6 miles south of downtown of Los Angeles around 7:45 a.m. to find the truck and surrounding area fully engulfed.

The explosions detonated with such force that they broke a large manhole cover in half and set a nearby home on fire, officials said. Much of the damage was confined to the home and an adjacent parking lot surrounded by corrugated metal.

Two people were injured in the blast, one of them seriously, officials said. Both were transported to a local hospital.

The truck’s smoldering gas tank lay on its side in the parking lot with one end blown open.

Felipe Cuevas, 30, lives just a few hundred yards away.

“My sister was getting home from work about 8 a.m. when she smelled gas in the air,” Cuevas said. “She reported it to the gas company. The gas company told her it would be there as soon as possible. As soon as she walked back into the house, there was a loud … boom, followed by six or seven more booms separated by about five minutes.”

Joseph Casillas, 32, and his family also live nearby.

“We thought it was an earthquake,” Casillas said. “There was a fireball and a tornado of fire. It was very hectic in the streets of our neighborhood.”

Customers of Puro Texcoco, a Mexican restaurant nearby, quickly fled the scene, abandoning their meals. Francisco Pilla, 33, works at the restaurant and was among those who ran.

“I heard an explosion, then I started running and I looked back and there was a little river of gasoline running along the curb and into the storm drain in...