Security footage captured the moment a massive house explosion killed three people and damaged at least 39 homes in the southern Indiana city of Evansville.
The blast was reported around 1 p.m. on Wednesday and had a 100-foot radius, Evansville Fire Department Chief Mike Connelly said. Police have shut down North Weinbach Avenue, where the explosion occurred, along with neighboring streets that could be seen strewn with debris.
A total of 39 houses were damaged by the explosion, but Connelly said the department has not confirmed how many of the houses were occupied when the explosion happened because ‘some were too unstable to enter.’
‘Debris is strewn over a 100-foot radius,’ including ‘typical construction materials’ such as wooden boards, window glass and insulation, Connelly said.
Authorities are continuing their search of area, but Connelly warned there could be more victims.
The identities of the people who died would not be released until the next of kin has been notified, Dave Anson, chief deputy coroner for Vanderburgh County, told The Associated Press.
The cause of the explosion has not been determined, but the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are investigating.
Three people were killed Wednesday when a house exploded in the southern Indiana city of Evansville, authorities said
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8ku_W47uCY
Aerial video posted on social media shows damage in a residential neighborhood with police and fire vehicles on the scene in Evansville, on the Kentucky border.
CenterPoint Energy, the local gas utility, was last called to the home in January 2018, Connelly said. CenterPoint issued a statement saying it ‘worked with first responders to secure the area.’
‘CenterPoint Energy is working closely with the Evansville Fire Department, State Fire Marshal and other agencies as the investigation of this incident continues,’ the utility said.
Photos posted by the Mayor Lloyd Winnecke shows the destruction of the explosion with pieces of homes scattered across the neighborhood and emergency workers sifting through the debris.
Another look at the N Weinbach explosion in #Evansville. This one is of the actual site of the blast. The home has been reduced to complete rubble. You can see an adjacent home split in half.
?: Drew Strader
Warning: Language pic.twitter.com/JGYM01hgQ8
— Valerie Lyons (@VLyonsTV) August 10, 2022
Photos posted by the mayor shows damage in a residential neighborhood with police and fire vehicles on the scene in Evansville, on the Kentucky border
The explosion on Wednesday was the second house explosion in the area in just over five years. A house explosion on June 27, 2017, killed two people and injured three others
Resident Drew Slader told local news outlets that he was sitting down when the forced of the blast threw him off the couch. He shared video from inside his damaged home that show broken window frames and kitchen cabinets hanging from the wall.
Jacki Baumgart, an office manager at Award World Trophies about two and a half blocks from the site of the explosion, said she and other employees in their building panicked when they heard the loud blast and saw smoke.
‘We thought a tree fell on the building or a car ran into the place,’ Baumgart said. ‘Debris from the ceiling came down.’
She continued: ‘Everybody here immediately ran out of the building. We thought the building was going to come down.’
Resident Drew Slader told local news outlets that he was sitting down when the forced of the blast threw him off the couch
He shared video from inside his damaged home that show broken window frames and kitchen cabinets hanging from the wall
Evansville Police Department posted to Facebook a plea for footage of the incident.
‘Our thoughts are with those closely involved with the explosion that happened on N. Weinbach this afternoon,’ they wrote.
‘As more information becomes available the respective agencies investigating will be able to provide more information.
N. Weinbach between Columbia and Oak Hill will be shut down for the foreseeable future, please plan an alternate route.
If anyone has footage of the incident, please forward a copy of the video to our Detectives Unit at [email protected].’
The explosion on Wednesday was the second house explosion in the area in just over five years. A house explosion on June 27, 2017, killed two people and injured three others.
People gather at an intersection as emergency crews respond to a house explosion in the 1000 block of North Weinbach Avenue in Evansville, Indiana on Wednesday
Emergency works sift through the debris of an explosion that killed three people and destroyed at least 39 houses
At least 39 houses were damaged in the massive explosion that was caught on camera
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