A natural gas explosion in one of New England's biggest cities leveled a strip club and heavily damaged a daycare center on Friday. Authorities said it was a "miracle" that no-one died in the blast.
At least 18 people were injured in the explosion in Springfield, Massachusetts, many of them firefighters, police officers and gas company workers responding to reports of an gas leak. A suspicious odor at the site had led to emergency services evacuating the strip club.
"This is a miracle... that no one was killed," Massachusetts lieutenant governor Tim Murray said at a press conference.
The explosion blew out all windows in a three-block radius, leaving three more buildings beyond repair and prompting emergency workers to evacuate a six-story apartment building that was buckling. According to a police sergeant, John Delaney, the scene looked as though it had been hit by "a missile strike".
The blast victims were taken to two hospitals in the city. None of their injuries was considered life-threatening, officials said. Firefighters were investigating a gas leak when the blast happened, shortly after 5pm.
"It really is a miracle and it's an example of our public safety officials, each and every day, putting themselves in harm's way, taking what could have been considered a very routine call of an odor of gas, but they took the proper precautions," said Stephen Coan, a state fire marshal. "And thanks to God that they did."
Officials also marveled how the blast occurred when a daycare center next door was closed. The center's building was heavily damaged. Many Springfield officials, including mayor Domenic Sarno, were attending a tree-lighting ceremony when the explosion occurred. Sarno said some people had thought the boom was part of the holiday event.
Springfield, which is 90 miles west of Boston and has about 150,000 residents, is the largest city in western Massachusetts. On Friday night, residents milled around the neighborhood where the explosion occurred, stunned by the destruction and confused by the cordoned-off area, which grew as crews continued to search for gas leaks. The mayor warned against looting, saying police would be out in force.
Wayne Davis, who lives about a block away from the destroyed building, said he had felt his apartment shake. "I was laying down in bed, and I started feeling the building shaking and creaking," he said. The Navy veteran added that the explosion was louder than anything he had ever heard, including the sound of a jet landing on an aircraft carrier.
The blast was heard in several neighboring communities. Video from WWLP-TV showed the moment of the explosion, with smoke billowing into the air.