Entire Block in Kansas City Burns After Explosion

At least 14 people were injured, five of them critically, when a gas explosion sparked a huge blast in an upscale Kansas City shopping district. The fire, which completely destroyed JJ's Restaurant, engulfed an entire block of the Country Club Plaza, reports the AP. The force of the blast, which came hours after residents reported a strong smell of natural gas in the area, knocked out windows across a wide area and was felt almost a mile away. Cadaver dogs are searching through the rubble.

"It sounded like thunder, but it felt like an earthquake," a worker in a nearby building tells the Kansas City Star. There were relatively few people inside the usually packed restaurant at the time because surrounding streets had been closed off while the smell of gas was investigated. Missouri Gas Energy issued a statement saying "early indications are that a contractor doing underground work struck a natural gas line, but the investigation continues." (More Kansas City stories.)