CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- At least eight people were injured when an explosion ripped through the top floor of an apartment building in Austin on the West Side Tuesday morning.
The blast occurred near West End and Central Avenue around 9 a.m., collapsing the top floor of the building and filling the street with bricks and debris. Ten ambulances were called to the scene and at least eight people were transported to hospitals, fire officials said.
All of the victims were assumed to be adults, according to Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford.
Two men were taken to Loyola University Medical Center, one serious to critical and the other fair to serious, fire officials said.
A man was taken in serious to critical condition to Mount Sinai Medical Center. A man and a woman were also taken there, both fair to serious.
A woman was taken to West Suburban Medical Center in fair to serious condition.
Two men were later transported to Stroger Hospital, one in fair to serious condition and the other in serious to critical condition.
One of the victims was in the building across the street, Deputy Chief Marc Ferman said in a press conference on the scene. He said the injuries ranged from burns to trauma.
The top floor of the building was “compromised,” but crews were confident they got everyone out, Ferman said. As of 11:15 a.m., emergency crews were conducting their final searches.
The cause of the explosion was unknown, but the police department’s bomb unit was called to the scene. Agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were also assisting, fire officials said.
“No one knows what the heck caused it,” Langford told the Sun-Times.
Otis Maning, who lives across the street, said he was sitting on his couch watching television, about to go to work, when the blast occurred.
“All of a sudden I hear boom,” he said. “My heart almost shot out of my body… I saw windows busted open, I saw debris.”
The top floor of the four-story had mostly collapsed, and roughly three-fourths of the windows in the building were shattered. A Nissan sedan parked in front of the building was covered in pieces of brick, its windshield shattered.
Keir Conner was taking her 3-year-old nephew Eric Parker to school at the time of the blast.
She was driving north on Central in a Buick Enclave SUV when the explosion lifted it up and moved it from the left lane all the way over to the parking lane, just a foot from the curb, and littered the street with debris.
The air was filled with dust and shattered brick. She said she could not have driven farther if she’d wanted to. The SUV was still where it had ended up, surrounded by debris.
“I got him out of the car and I started running because I was thinking of a second explosion,” Conner said. “It was beyond loud. I’m still hearing ringing.”
Shannon Nelson, 34, and boyfriend Brice Collier, 35, live in an apartment building across Washington from the site of the explosion.
Their whole building shook, they said.
“I was in the bathroom brushing my teeth and everything in the bathroom fell,” Collier said. “I thought it was an earthquake.”
She was in the bed, which bounced off the floor.
They went outside, saw bricks falling, people running in every direction and screaming and people screaming they had loved ones inside as police urged them to get back, in case there was another explosion.
“It felt like a terrorist attack. That’s what popped into my head instantly You only see this stuff on TV,” said Nelson, adding that she could smell a very story odor of gas. “It was so strong … Your nose is burning,” she said.
Terrill Townes lives nearby and rushed over because his child goes to school not far from the apartment building.
“I heard the explosion from two blocks away,” Townes said. “It sounded like a bomb.”
Nearby buildings were also evacuated and searched, Ferman said.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot released a statement saying “my thoughts are with those who were injured and displaced in the building collapse in the Austin neighborhood. We must also thank the brave men and women of the Chicago Fire Department who are working to abate the dangerous conditions.”
Officials did not know how many residents had been displaced by the explosion.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire & Chicago Sun-Times 2022. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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