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Multiple people were trapped and one person is dead after an explosion involving several houses in Baltimore, according to a Baltimore firefighters’ union.
Baltimore Fire Department spokeswoman Blair Adams said at a 9 a.m. news conference that a man was pulled from the debris shortly before 1 a.m. The discovery brought the death toll to two people. A woman had been pronounced dead at the scene shortly after Monday morning’s explosion.
As FFs combed through the night, the body of an adult male was located just before 1am. #BCFD@BaltimoreOEM remain on the scene to assist with clean up efforts. The W. Balt. Explosion is now totaling 7 people injured & 2 deceased. The cause remains under investigation. pic.twitter.com/vxY29MeQca
Seven other people were taken to hospitals, with five of them in critical condition, Adams said. She said the conditions of the other two people were still being determined.
BALTIMORE, MD – AUGUST 10: First responders search for survivors at the scene of an explosion on August 10, 2020 in Baltimore, Maryland. Early reports indicate that a gas leak may have caused the massive explosion that leveled three homes, causing multiple injuries and at least one fatality. (Photo by Michael A. McCoy/Getty Images)
BALTIMORE, MD – AUGUST 10: First responders search for survivors at the scene of an explosion on August 10, 2020 in Baltimore, Maryland. Early reports indicate that a gas leak may have caused the massive explosion that leveled three homes, causing multiple injuries and at least one fatality. (Photo by Michael A. McCoy/Getty Images)
BALTIMORE, MD – AUGUST 10: Baltimore Gas and Electric employees work at the scene of an explosion on August 10, 2020 in Baltimore, Maryland. Early reports indicate that a gas leak may have caused the massive explosion that leveled three homes, causing multiple injuries and at least one fatality. (Photo by Michael A. McCoy/Getty Images)
BALTIMORE, MD – AUGUST 10: Windows of nearby residences were blown out by an explosion on August 10, 2020 in Baltimore, Maryland. Early reports indicate that a gas leak may have caused the massive explosion that leveled three homes, causing multiple injuries and at least one fatality. (Photo by Michael A. McCoy/Getty Images)
Baltimore County Fire Department @BaltCoFire
Baltimore County Fire Department @BaltCoFire
Baltimore County Fire Department @BaltCoFire
Chopper4, WRC-TV
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According to officials, several houses exploded in a neighborhood in northwest Baltimore on Monday morning
Baltimore County Fire Department @BaltCoFire
Baltimore County Fire Department @BaltCoFire
Baltimore Firefighters IAFF Local 734 @BCFDL734
Chopper4, WRC-TV
Chopper4, WRC-TV
Chopper4, WRC-TV
Chopper4, WRC-TV
Baltimore Firefighters IAFF Local 734 @BCFDL734
Baltimore Firefighters IAFF Local 734 @BCFDL734
Chopper4, WRC-TV
Chopper4, WRC-TV
Chopper4, WRC-TV
Baltimore Firefighters IAFF Local 734 @BCFDL734
BALTIMORE, MD – AUGUST 10: First responders search for survivors at the scene of an explosion on August 10, 2020 in Baltimore, Maryland. Early reports indicate that a gas leak may have caused the massive explosion that leveled three homes, causing multiple injuries and at least one fatality. (Photo by Michael A. McCoy/Getty Images)
BALTIMORE, MD – AUGUST 10: First responders search for survivors at the scene of an explosion on August 10, 2020 in Baltimore, Maryland. Early reports indicate that a gas leak may have caused the massive explosion that leveled three homes, causing multiple injuries and at least one fatality. (Photo by Michael A. McCoy/Getty Images)
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – AUGUST 10: First responders dig through the rubble of three houses demolished by a gas explosion on August 10, 2020 in Baltimore, Maryland. A gas leak caused the massive explosion that leveled three homes, resulting in multiple injuries and at least one fatality. (Photo by J. Countess/Getty Images)
About 30 residents in the area have used temporary shelter since the explosion, and more than 200 residents in the neighborhood were affected by the blast, Adams said.
Meanwhile, the exact cause of the explosion remains unknown.
The Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (BGE) said Tuesday afternoon that the investigation into the cause of the devastating blast is ongoing. The company inspected the gas main on Monday and found no leaks. No leaks at the properties had been reported in the past five years.
"The data is indicative of some type of issue beyond the BGE meter on customer-owned equipment and is currently being analyzed by investigators," BGE said in a statement.
Several houses exploded in a neighborhood in northwest Baltimore on Monday morning, according to officials.
Chopper4 footage showed staggering damage. Window frames were scattered across the grass and the remains of a wall and doorframe leaned against the wreckage. Boards, cinderblocks and household items were piled atop each other. Debris spilled across the roadway, into the yards of homes across the street and across the rooftops of multiple other homes in the row.
"It's a disaster. It's a mess. It's unbelievable," said Diane Glover, who lives across the street. The explosion shattered her windows and blew open her front door. "I'm still shaken up," she said hours later.
Glover, 56, and her 77-year-old father, Moses Glover, were at home when the massive explosion shook their house.
“I jumped up to see what was going on. I looked out the bathroom window and there was a house on the ground,” she said. “It sounded like a bomb went off.”
Seven people were killed and dozens injured when a gas leak caused an explosion in Silver Spring, Maryland, in 2016. The Baltimore explosion occurred four years to the day after the explosion at the Flower Branch Apartments.
