Investigators sift through wreckage after fatal nursing home explosion in US
Nineteen people are still in hospital, one in a critical condition, following the blast, said police.
Construction crews have been working to clear the rubble of a Pennsylvania nursing home, a day after a powerful explosion killed two people at the building in the US state.
Searchers have accounted for everyone who was thought to be missing, Bristol police chief Charles Winik said.
Two had been reported dead on Tuesday evening, but emergency responders were trying to locate others in hospitals or the wreckage of the Bristol Health & Rehab Centre that exploded hours earlier.
Nineteen people are still in hospital, one in a critical condition, following the blast, he said.
An investigation into the cause and origin is under way with support from federal agencies, Mr Winik added.
Authorities did not immediately identify the deceased, but said one was a resident and one was an employee. Both were women, they said.
The blast at the 174-bed nursing home in Bristol Township, about 20 miles north-east of Philadelphia, happened shortly after a utility crew responded to reports of a gas odour at the facility, authorities said.
Investigators are examining whether a gas leak caused the explosion, a finding officials cautioned remains preliminary.
On Wednesday, workers were using heavy equipment to clear sections of the collapsed roof and walls to help investigators gain better access, Mr Winik said.
Emergency responders from across the region had evacuated residents and dug through debris amid flames, smoke, a strong smell of gas and even a second explosion, officials said.
The town’s fire chief, Kevin Dippolito, described a chaotic rescue in which firefighters found people trapped in stairwells and lift shafts and pulled residents from windows and doors. Two people were rescued from a collapsed section of the building and one was resuscitated at hospital.
Willie Tye, who lives about a block away, said he was watching a basketball game when he heard a loud boom.
“I thought an airplane or something came and fell on my house,” he said. When he went outside, he saw “fire everywhere” and people fleeing the building.
The local gas utility, Peco, said its crews were responding to reports of a gas odour when the explosion occurred. The company said it shut off natural gas and electric service to the facility to protect first responders and nearby residents.
“It is not known at this time if Peco’s equipment, or natural gas, was involved in this incident,” the utility said in a statement.
Investigators from the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission went to the scene. A utility commission spokesperson said a determination that a gas leak caused the explosion cannot be confirmed until investigators examine the site.
