At Least 2 Killed in Nursing Home Explosion

A thunderous explosion Tuesday at a nursing home just outside Philadelphia killed at least two people, collapsed part of the building, sent fire shooting out, and left people trapped inside, authorities said. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said in a news conference several hours after the explosion that at least two had been killed after emergency responders braved the flames, a heavy odor of gas, and a second explosion to evacuate residents and employees, the AP reports. Fire officials said they were in "rescue mode" five hours later, with responders still digging by hand and using search dogs, earth-moving equipment, and sonar to locate potential victims. The explosion happened at Bristol Health & Rehab Center in Bristol Township, just as a utility crew had been on site looking for a gas leak.

• The town's fire chief, Kevin Dippolito, said at the Tuesday evening news conference that there were five people still unaccounted for, but he cautioned that some may have left the scene with family members. Dippolito described a chaotic rescue where firefighters found people stuck in stairwells and elevator shafts, and pulled residents out of the fiery building through windows and doors. Two people were rescued from a collapsed section of building, he said. Firefighters handed off patients to waiting police officers outside, including one "who literally threw two people over his shoulders," the fire chief said. "It was nothing short of extraordinary."
• County officials said they received the report of an explosion at approximately 2:17pm and said a portion of the building was reported to have collapsed.
• The cause of the explosion was unclear. Nils Hagen-Frederiksen, press secretary at the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, said first responders and emergency management officials were describing it as a gas explosion, but that won't be confirmed until his agency can examine the scene up close.
• A nurse who works at the facility tells NBC10 that there are normally 50 people at a time in the building where the explosion happened. She says residents range in age from 50 to 95.
• The latest state inspection report for the 174-bed facility was in October and the Pennsylvania Department of Health found that it was not in compliance with several state regulations. The inspection report said the facility failed to provide an accurate set of floor plans and to properly maintain several stairways, including storing multiple paint buckets and a bed frame under landings. It also said the facility failed to maintain portable fire extinguishers on one of the three levels and failed to provide the required "smoke barrier partitions," which are designed to contain smoke on two floors. It also said it didn't properly store oxygen cylinders on two of three floors.
• This story has been updated with new developments.