Gas Explosion Levels 3 Baltimore Homes, at Least 2 Dead

BALTIMORE (AP) — A natural gas explosion destroyed three row houses in Baltimore on Monday, killing a woman and a university student and trapping other people in the wreckage.

At least two people were hospitalized with serious injuries, firefighters said.

At least three dozen firefighters converged on the disaster scene, where the natural gas explosion reduced to the homes to piles of rubble and pieces of debris. A fourth house in the row was partly destroyed, and the neighborhood was strewn with glass from shattered windows.

Two of the homes' occupants were taken to hospitals in serious condition, while an adult woman was pronounced dead at the scene, the fire department tweeted. The firefighters’ union tweeted that special rescue operation units were searching for other people.

A man was pulled from the debris shortly before 1 a.m. Baltimore Fire Department spokeswoman Blair Adams said at a Wednesday morning news conference.

Family members identified him as Joseph Graham, 20, a student at Morgan State University who had attended a party at one of the row homes that was destroyed.

Kevin Matthews, who lives on the block, The Baltimore Sun that he could hear trapped children shouting: “Come get us! We’re stuck!” shortly after the explosion. He said firefighters were arriving by then and he got out of their way while they searched for the survivors.

The Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. received an “initial call” from the fire department at 9:54 a.m. on Monday and was working to turn off the gas to buildings in the immediate area, its spokeswoman Linda Foy said.

“We are on the scene and working closely with the fire department to make the situation safe," she said, without answering any questions from reporters. "Once the gas is off, we can begin to safely assess the situation, including inspections of BGE equipment.”

While the cause of the explosions wasn't immediately clear, The Sun reported last year that dangerous gas leaks have become much more frequent in recent years, with nearly two dozen discovered each day on average, according to the utility's reports to federal authorities.

BGE is the nation’s oldest gas utility with origins dating to 1817, and thousands of miles of obsolete pipes need to be replaced, a job the utility estimated would cost nearly $1 billion and take two decades, the newspaper said.

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