At least two dead in ‘catastrophic’ explosion at Pennsylvania nursing home: officials

At least two people are dead and several people are believed missing after a “catastrophic” explosion at a nursing home in eastern Pennsylvania, officials said Tuesday.

“This is a very, very tragic moment for this community,” Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said at a news conference Tuesday night.

The explosion occurred at the Silver Lake nursing home in Bristol, about 25 miles northeast of Philadelphia, on Tuesday afternoon, sparking a large fire.

“There was a major structural collapse with parts of the first floor into the basement and people trapped,” Bristol Fire Chief Kevin Dippolito said at Tuesday’s news conference.

It is unclear at this time how many people were injured, and the victims were taken to several hospitals, authorities said. At least five people are believed to be missing in the incident, although authorities stressed that number is preliminary.

The cause of the explosion remains under investigation, although Shapiro said it is preliminarily believed that a gas leak caused the “catastrophic” explosion.

There was a strong smell of natural gas during the emergency response, Dippolito said.

Energy company PECO said its crews responded to reports of a gas smell at the nursing home shortly after 2 p.m. on Tuesday and that an explosion occurred while they were at the scene.

“PECO crews shut off natural gas and electric service to the facility to ensure the safety of first responders and local residents,” the company said in a statement.

Shapiro praised the response to the fire.

“I want to say that in the immediate moments after the explosion, you saw what true heroism is all about: firefighters rushed to the scene to contain the explosion, put out the fire and, most importantly, rescue people,” the governor said.