Saturday morning, Pennsylvania witnessed a house explosion that left five dead and one missing. It occurred in Allegheny County, about 20 miles from Pittsburgh, the state's second-largest city. According to authorities, three structures were destroyed, and at least twelve were damaged. Security forces worked for hours to rescue people.
The reason behind the explosion is still unknown, and it is estimated that the investigation could take a few weeks. For now, any accident related to gas systems has been ruled out, as they were inspected and found to be "operating as designed."
The house explosion occurred on Saturday morning, affecting two neighboring structures and twelve others in the neighborhood. According to county officials, five people died (four adults and one teenager) and three others were transported to a nearby hospital. At least one of them is in critical condition.
UPDATE on Plum, Pennsylvania House Explosion:
- The explosion took place at 10:23 AM ET Saturday and damaged 3 homes.
- 5 People have died from the explosion which took place yesterday and was caught on a Ring camera. This included 4 adults and 1 child. An additional person is… pic.twitter.com/KXmJY4ZQQV
— Brian Krassenstein (@krassenstein) August 13, 2023
The fire department worked exhaustively to help those affected, including 20 residents who had to be evaluated for heat exhaustion. "This is certainly a sad, sad day and a sad time, for not just the folks in Plum but for all the folks in the community and in this region," The Allegheny County Administrator, Rich Fitzgerald, said.
At least 18 crews worked for hours to defeat the flames, which did not yield even under the advance of the firefighters. Meanwhile, the exact number of people hit by the explosion is still unable to be determined. Firefighters continued to pull people out of the rubble late Saturday night.
