Authorities said three individuals were missing after a fire and explosion at a residence in Michigan destroyed several other homes and sent debris strewn across a neighbourhood.
Two people were hospitalised after the Monday night explosion in Flint, according to Flint Fire Department Battalion Chief Ramsey Clapper. Homes in the area were damaged or destroyed, and the blast was said to be felt kilometres away.
“There seems to be deaths,” Flint Police Chief Terence Green said at the site to MLive-The Flint Journal.
By late Monday, the majority of the fires had been put out. The cause was being looked into. The neighbourhood was scattered with splintered wood and other debris, according to television footage.
A neighbour, Aisha Lott, said she heard an explosion and the blow shook her house.
She told WJRT-TV, “It was like a pretty huge boom, and my house shook.”
Consumers Energy spokesman Brian Wheeler said the utility received a call about the house explosion around 9:40 p.m. Monday, and technicians dispatched to the area turned off natural gas and electric service to seven residences, three of which were destroyed by the blast, according to Wheeler.
Consumers Energy’s gas system that runs to the house that exploded, according to Wheeler, had no evidence of gas leaks or other difficulties Tuesday morning. According to him, the utility is cooperating with local authorities in the investigation of the explosion.
In a statement, the utility added, “Our sympathies this morning are with the residents of this community and their loved ones.”
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