Surveillance Video Shows Explosion Rock Silver Spring Apartment Complex
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Surveillance footage shows the moments an explosion rocked a Silver Spring apartment complex on Thursday, injuring at least 10 people.
The 2-minute long video clip provided by Amrit Gautam shows the blast level the building, sending smoke shooting into the air and showering the surrounding area with debris. Screams can be heard over the sound of an alarm in the background.
It happened about 10:30 a.m. Thursday at an apartment complex on Lyttonsville Road. Ten people were hospitalized, three with serious injuries and the rest with minor to moderate injuries, Montgomery County Fire Chief Scott Goldstein said.
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Crews removed several residents from the building before it was engulfed in flames and collapsed, Goldstein said. Firefighters were able to quickly get the flames under control.
Several people remain unaccounted for, according to the chief, who did not provide an estimate of the number of people missing. He said roughly 100 people live in the building and two neighboring buildings that were declared uninhabitable.
The incident remains under investigation while search-and-rescue operations continue for those who remain missing.
The blast came nearly six years after a fire and explosion at Flower Branch Apartments in Silver Spring killed seven people and displaced dozens more.