Gas blast damages 40 buildings in the US
Building inspectors assessing homes and businesses in western Massachusetts’ largest city after a natural gas explosion have said the blast damaged more than 40 buildings.
Yesterday’s explosion in Springfield levelled a strip club next to a day care centre. It injured 18 people, many of them emergency workers. Their injuries are not life-threatening.
The explosion occurred an hour after gas company workers arrived to investigate a possible gas leak in the area that is 90 miles west of Boston.
Authorities cordoned off the centre of the explosion today. Building inspectors say preliminary findings showed the blast damaged 42 buildings housing 115 residential units. Three buildings were immediately condemned.
Punta Cana restaurant manager Omar Fermin said the explosion shattered the business’ floor-to-ceiling windows and made the area look like an earthquake zone.
