Suspected gas blast levels 2 Philadelphia homes, damages others, hurts 3

A suspected gas explosion a few hours into the new year demolished two Philadelphia row homes and damaged others, sending three people to the hospital. Fire department officials said the blast occurred shortly before 3 a.m. Sunday in the Port Richmond neighborhood of northeast Philadelphia. Two buildings were reduced to rubble while others had windows blown out, while several cars were pushed from the street and debris was scattered everywhere. Assistant Fire Chief Charles Walker said two people managed to free themselves but one person had to be dug out of the rubble. WTXF-TV reports that a 65-year-old man was critically injured and a 60-year-old woman had critical burns.

A suspected gas explosion a few hours into the new year demolished two Philadelphia row homes and damaged others, sending three people to the hospital, authorities said.

Fire department officials said the blast occurred shortly before 3 a.m. Sunday in the Port Richmond neighborhood of northeast Philadelphia. Two buildings were reduced to rubble while others had windows blown out, while several cars were pushed from the street and debris was scattered everywhere.

Assistant Fire Chief Charles Walker said two people managed to free themselves but one person had to be dug out of the rubble. A 65-year-old man was reported critically injured and a 60-year-old woman had critical burns, WTXF-TV reported. Fire officials said they believed everyone had been accounted for.

“We were very fortunate from what we know now not to have a loss of life, because it’s the middle of the night and everyone is sleeping,” Walker told the station. “And if it’s confirmed to be a gas leak, it’s very rare to have the magnitude of this type of damage occur to not have loss of life, truly a blessing.”