Updated: Aug. 4, 6:51 p.m.
FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP, N.J. (KYW Newsradio) — Four people are dead and two are injured after a house explosion in Buena, New Jersey Thursday morning.
Police say they will be treating this as a criminal investigation until they can determine exactly what happened.
As the sun went down over the Landisville section of Buena in Atlantic County Thursday night, first responders were still searching through piles of rubble where the house once stood.
“Our indications are there were six people home at the time. Two have since been flown to a burn center,” Franklin Township Police Chief Matthew DeCesari said Thursday night.
A 1-year-old girl and a 16-year-old girl were flown to a hospital to be treated for burns. The baby is considered critical; the teenager is stable.
Investigators say the other four people who were home at the time of the blast include a 2-year-old boy, a 3-year-girl, and two adult men. Police have not released their identities.
Police recovered three bodies on Thursday. On Friday, the fourth body was located around 2 p.m. "at the base of the demolished structure," DeCesari said. All four were reported dead.
“All indicators are this thing went up very fast and it was a lot to try to fight,” DeCesari said.
The explosion launched pieces of the house onto neighboring properties. Roof shingles and pieces of what looked like a door landed in neighbors’ yards.
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“When the neighbor called me and told me that was the house, I know there’s kids there,” said Ray Perez, who lives down the street. “It’s real bad, because everyone knows the children here, everybody knows everybody. I know all the neighbors here. It’s just sad.”
There were pieces of the house in Perez’s backyard, as well. Several nearby homes had damage themselves, and police say at least two households have been displaced.
No cause has been released. Franklin Township Police and the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office are leading the charge, with help from local fire companies, the FBI, and ATF.
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