Three dead, including child, in Dallas apartment explosion and fire - VIDEO
A natural gas explosion tore through a residential building in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas on Thursday afternoon, killing three people, including a child, and leaving several others injured, according to Dallas Fire-Rescue officials, News.Az reports, citing NBCDFW.
Authorities said Thursday night that the victims included two adult women and one child.
Earlier in the day, fire officials told reporters that rescue crews remained in the recovery phase as they continued searching through the debris both by hand and with the use of drones.
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Sources told NBCDFW that 23 people lived in the building. Officials said 12 residents have been accounted for, but noted they do not have a confirmed number of people who remain unaccounted for.
DFR said crews were dispatched to a reported gas leak at about 12:45 p.m. on the 400 block of E. Ninth Street. Officials said when the first units arrived about two minutes later, a fire had already broken out.
A massive explosion and fire ripped through an apartment building in Dallas, sending heavy flames and smoke into the air and injuring at least four people.
Nearly 100 firefighters rushed to the scene in the city’s Oak Cliff neighborhood. It's not clear how many people were in… pic.twitter.com/InJHGzO18b
At about 2:20 p.m., the response was increased from three alarms to four alarms. By 3:23 p.m., it was raised to five alarms to provide relief for firefighters working in the heat.
Officials later confirmed a natural gas explosion triggered the fire.
On Thursday night, the National Transportation Safety Board announced it was sending a team to Dallas to investigate the explosion.
"NTSB is sending a team to Dallas, Texas, to start an investigation into the Thursday, May 28, natural gas-fueled explosion that destroyed an apartment building in the Oak Cliff neighborhood," the agency said in a post on X.
Senior Investigative Reporter Scott Friedman said a source with knowledge of the situation told him that it appeared a contractor was working in the building at the time and may have struck a gas line.
It is not clear what type of work was being done at the apartment complex, but city officials said Thursday afternoon that the city was not doing any work in the area and had no work being done in the right-of-way.
Atmos Energy later confirmed to NBCDFW that the fire department informed them at 12:51 p.m. that a construction crew had damaged a natural gas pipeline near the building. Atmos said they were not a part of that work and that technicians were dispatched to assist Dallas Fire-Rescue and other emergency management personnel at the scene, and that natural gas service in the immediate area is turned off. Atmos said an investigation is ongoing and that crews remain at the site to provide support.
By Nijat Babayev
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