At least six people were hurt after a home apparently exploded in Newark on Friday night, according to city officials.
Newark police and firefighters responded to a report of a building collapse shortly after 6 p.m., at a Newark Housing Authority property on South Pine Lane near Stephen Crane Plaza, officials said.
Six people were injured in the apparent blast, one seriously, city officials told reporters at the scene.
Five victims were taken to the hospital, including the seriously injured victim, who was taken to the burn unit at Saint Barnabas Hospital, officials said. One person refused medical attention.
Thirteen families were displaced and are currently being relocated to local hotels as investigators sort through the wreckage.
Fire officials, engineers and utility companies were at the scene to determine what happened.
Officials could not confirm whether the collapse at the HUD-funded property was a result of a gas explosion.
“It’s a traumatic event. I spoke to a few residents who have obviously been displaced because of this. The city is being fully supportive of the Housing Authority to make sure we can provide what we can,” Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said.
“These residents will not be able to come back to this property until we can make an assessment that it is in fact safe,” he said. The Red Cross was also at the scene assisting.
The Newark neighborhood was rocked by the blast, which sent debris 600 feet away from the building, witnesses told CBS News.
“I just heard ‘boom,’ and all I saw from the side was glass flying, windows and everything,” Newark resident Sylvia Murdaugh told the outlet.
Neighbor Vanessa Bohler told CBS her daughter was inside her first-floor apartment at the time of the collapse and was knocked off her feet by the explosion.
“She was down on the ground, and the neighbors next door, they were taken to the hospital, as well,” she said. “The doors are blown off … The air conditioners are hanging out the window and the doors are just blown off.”
