Silver Springs, MD – Firefighters were searching Thursday for as many as seven people missing after a natural gas explosion and fire leveled an apartment building in the Washington suburb of Silver Spring, Md., fire officials said.
As many as 30 people, including three firefighters, were taken to the hospital, fire officials said. Many of the injuries were sustained by people jumping out of windows, according to Montgomery County Fire Chief Scott Goldstein, WJLA-TV reported.
People were dropping children and jumping out of other windows, he said. Everybody was getting out of the building as rapidly as possible.”
The fire chief said each unit had a natural gas furnace and a stove. He said it took almost two hours to put out the fire and turn off the gas.
Injuries ranged from abrasions to broken bones, burns and smoke inhalation.