Body found among debris in Maryland apartment explosion; criminal investigation launched
A body was discovered in debris at a Gaithersburg, Maryland, apartment complex one day after an explosion injured 12 people, officials said. Montgomery County Police Chief Marcus Jones said Thursday evening they are launching a criminal investigation into the blast.
"We have some information, again it's very limited," Jones said during a press conference. "But we are looking into the possibility of this as a criminal, intentional act. We don't know that for sure. We have a lot of work to do. We are lacking a lot of other evidence."
Fire officials said they were in the middle of excavating the building Thursday morning when a K-9 unit alerted them to a pile in front of building. The body, which has not yet been identified, was taken to the medical examiner's office in Baltimore, Jones said.
One day earlier, first responders received reports of an explosion at the apartment complex at 8:30 a.m. Montgomery County Fire Chief Scott Goldstein said two of the complex's six-unit buildings, 826 and 828, were affected by the explosion, and two others were evacuated.
At least 12 people, including four children, were injured. Two of the adults injured were in critical condition, Goldstein said Wednesday.
All of the occupants of building 828 have been accounted for, Goldstein said Thursday afternoon, but crews will continue to search through the debris.
"We have parts of the building that we still need to search through, parts of the building that we need to still remove debris and work to verify that there are no other unaccounted for occupants," he said.
Fire personnel also checked the surrounding buildings and didn't find any gas leaks, Goldstein said, adding that fire crews had responded to a call Thursday about a gas emergency in the complex, but it was coming from an appliance not connected to the gas distribution system. He assured residents they shouldn't worry about their safety.
Officials plan to hold another briefing on the explosion Friday.