Texas explosion likely caused by gas leak injures 21

FORT WORTH: At least 21 people were injured Monday in an apparent gas leak explosion at the Sandman Hotel in downtown Fort Worth, Texas, the city’s fire department said.

Nobody was killed in the explosion and authorities were investigating the cause.

Images from the scene showed rubble in the street between two buildings with first responders on the scene.

Craig Trojacek, a spokesman for the Fort Worth Fire Department, said first responders rescued several people trapped in the basement of the hotel.

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Of the 21 people injured, one person was in critical condition, while four others had serious but not life threatening injuries, Trojacek said. The others sustained minor injuries.

Trojacek said that 26 hotel rooms were occupied by guests. He added that construction was going on in the building at the time, but it was not yet clear if that played any role in the explosion.

Investigators believe that the blast was caused by natural gas, Sara Abel, spokesperson with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, told local media. “There is smell of gas in the area and there are windows and things that were blown outside of the structure,” Fort Worth Fire Department’s Spokesman Craig Trojacek said.