Fire and incendiary experts investigating the Minneapolis explosion early this morning are still stumped as to its cause:
The massive blast quickly resulted in a three-alarm blaze which then all but totaled a three-storey apartment building close to the university.
Putting that fire out was additionally hampered by the intensity of 20-foot flames and sub-zero temperatures.
Over a dozen victims of the Minneapolis explosion have now been hospitalized, police say, with nearly half of those people being treated for critical injuries.
Firetrucks and cop cruisers arrived shortly after the initial explosion to find a number of frantic residents jumping from the engulfed building's upper windows.
No fatalities have been reported yet, but a spokesperson for fire-and-rescue warned that not all the occupants of the commercial building have been accounted for yet.
At the time this story went to press, the suspicious Minnesota conflagration has been brought under control. However, inspectors say the top floors collapsed and the entire site is too unstable to conduct a search for remains.
City records indicate there were ten rental units in the heavily damaged structure. All but one had tenants in them.
This story is developing; bookmark for updates.
UPDATE January 2, 2014: Investigators still cannot pinpoint the cause of the explosion in Minneapolis yesterday. However, a co-owner of the first-floor 'Otonga Grocery Store' said he “felt an electrical shock" shortly after he arrived for work at 8 a.m. He said that was followed by an explosion on a floor above him which blew out the windows.
ReplyDeleteUPDATE 1/5/14 (a.m.): As of today, three victims have reportedly died from injuries sustained during the massive explosion and fire at a Minneapolis apartment complex this week.
ReplyDeleteThe site has now been fully razed as authorities are convinced that all occupants and their guests have finally been accounted for.
The investigation into the early morning blast on New Year's day is still ongoing, although representatives of the gas company whose lines serviced the decimated building deny that there were any leaks, as is currently suspected.
In support of that theory, some residents have said they smelled an odor consistent with that of natural gas or propane just moments before the deadly explosion occurred.
Fire inspectors also say they found debris patterns consistent with such an incendiary.
E.R.
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