Five Killed, Two More Injured In Pennsylvania House Explosion | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of the The Daily Wire. The author of this post is Ashe Schow.

    A house explosion in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, claimed the lives of five people, including four children, and injured two others Thursday night.

    The cause of the explosion is still unknown, but Pottstown borough manager Justin Keller told reporters Thursday night that police and fire officials arrived at the scene just after 8 p.m. and found "multiple victims needing medical care."

    "This is still an active emergency scene," Keller said at the time, informing residents of the borough to stay away from the area where the explosion occurred.

    Keller also said at a press conference on Friday that initially four people had been found dead, with two people hospitalized for injuries, but the number of deaths grew to five on Friday. Keller said that one of those injured in the explosion was in critical but stable condition, The New York Times reported, and that the other injured person was going into surgery.

    Keller on Friday noted that authorities believe everyone has been accounted for, but at that time declined to identify the victims.

    Later that day, WFMZ reported, the victims were identified as Francine White, 67; Alana Wood, 13; Jeremiah White, 12; Nehemiah White, 10; and Tristan White, 8. A 44-year-old man and a 32-year-old woman were injured.

    The outlet also noted that members of the community said they felt a shake from the blast even miles away.

    "My wife called me crying and upset," Johnny Corson, a Pottstown resident and president of the NAACP Pottstown Chapter, told WFMZ. "We live catty corner, across from where it happened."

    Another Pottstown resident and member of the local NAACP chapter, Emanuel Wilkurson, told the outlet that "It was like, 'was that person in that house?' in various homes, that we were checking."

    "It was just raw emotion," he added.

    At least two homes were destroyed in the blast, and six ore were damaged, WFMZ reported.

    "The whole scene is being documented," Pottstown Fire Chief Frank Hand told the outlet. "We can't get in there until all of the pictures are taken and all the measurements, everything that has to be done for a blast."

    "The ATF (Philadelphia Arson and Explosive Team), the Pennsylvania State Police Fire Marshal's Office, the Pottstown Fire Department, and the Pottstown Police Department are investigating," WFMZ reported.

    Hand also told the outlet that analyzing the explosion would take awhile.

    Borough manager Keller said during his press conference that the Red Cross had also sent personnel to the site of the explosion Thursday night.

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