 "Watch: Large explosion in California, several homes destroyed after crew hits gas pipeline")
A gas pipeline explosion affected multiple houses in a Bay Area City on Thursday, injuring at least six people. The officials noted that the explosion eventually led to a neighbourhood fire, and the two people are still missing. A video provided by a neighbour showed a huge explosion that sent large debris flying into the air.
According to The New York Times, multiple homes on a residential street in Hayward, a city of about 163,000 people, were burning as of Thursday afternoon. Crews have been searching the scene with a dog to look for the missing people. While speaking to the reporters, Ryan Nishimoto, deputy chief of operations for the Alameda County Fire Department, said that approximately 75 fire and other emergency personnel were on scene trying to extinguish the blaze
WATCH: Large explosion destroys multiple homes after crew hits gas line in Hayward, California. At least 6 people injured pic.twitter.com/KWJvv1gUoY
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Meanwhile, aerial television footage from Thursday afternoon showed fire trucks spraying water on a car’s metal husk, with multiple roofs of the homes still burning. The authorities maintained that at least one home appeared to have been largely reduced to piles of debris.
The cause of the explosion remains unclear
The authorities maintained that it is still unclear exactly what caused the explosion. Jason King, a spokesman for Pacific Gas and Electric, said that the utility was notified that construction crews had damaged multiple gas lines beneath Lewelling Boulevard in Hayward just after 7:30 am (local time).
King maintained that the gas company immediately dispatched crews to the scene, and they stopped the flow of gas by 9:25 am (local time). Ten minutes later, the explosion occurred on Lewelling Boulevard, he said.
Soon after the incident, six people were hospitalised with injuries. Meanwhile, fire law enforcement officers and utility workers were not injured while controlling the fire. There has been no immediate information on whether the homes on the street were occupied at the time of the explosion.
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View All“PG&E will be conducting an extensive investigation into the potential cause and will support other investigations that may take place,” King said. It is important to note that the Thursday explosion came 15 years after one of the US’s worst gas explosions took place in San Bruno, south of San Francisco, which killed eight people and burned three dozen houses.
A federal jury found PG&E guilty of safety violations at that time, and the company paid more than $2 billion in penalties and restitution.
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