This happened around 9 a.m. near West End and Central avenues. The cause of this apartment building explosion is still under investigation, after the explosion sent eight people to the hospital, three of them in serious to critical condition. The victims suffered burns and lacerations, fire officials said.
ATTENTION: CFD Responds to Building Collapse in South Austin
Several of the victims have been released from hospital, somehow with few visible injuries. “A major burn on the body can be months and months of healing, not to mention recovering from it,” said Dr. Joshua Carson, medical director of the Loyola University Medical Center Burn Center. “So it really could be anything.” Carson said burns on the body can sometimes complicate how other injuries are treated. “These buildings are collapsing, explosions, it’s the burns that are overwhelming, and everybody sees the burn when the patient comes in and what you really have to do is make sure your team knows not to get distracted and forget about each other kind of trauma they can’t see,” she said. Chicago fire officials said the explosion occurred on the top floor of the building and was felt a few blocks away. The blast shattered windows and covered cars in the street with bricks and glass. Nearby buildings were evacuated and schools in the area dismissed early. RELATED: Chicago building that exploded has history of inspection failures, alleged code violations Officials said the explosion was so powerful that residents living in nearby buildings were injured and required treatment. ABC7 spoke with some of the blast victims, who described those panicked moments after the explosion. Eric Hoon was left off his feet. “I just got off the floor. I didn’t even see myself falling down. I got off the floor and ran straight out the door,” he said. “I woke up on the ground. I don’t remember hitting the ground. I just remember getting up and running.” The third-floor hallway, he said, was a haze of chaos, a mix of disorienting panic, dust and doors that flew off their hinges. “As I was finishing, they couldn’t see where to go, there was so much smoke, so they just followed me,” he said. “So many of us finish, I couldn’t count.” A nearby church also served as a Red Cross shelter for displaced residents, providing them with food and a place to sleep. Many fled the scene without cell phones, identification or medicine. “The foundation of my house shook like an earthquake,” said Asuda Harris, who lives in an apartment a few blocks away. “I saw a cloud of smoke from the building. It was a basic type of smoke, not like smoke from a fire.”
ATTENTION: CFD deputy commissioner describes response to building collapse
Peoples Gas crews also responded to the scene. However, a company spokesman said there was no reason to believe the cause of the explosion was related to gas or any of their equipment. Electronic inspection records for the building that exploded, reviewed by the I-Team, reveal a history of inspection failures and alleged code violations. The I-Team got clarification on some of these from officials with the Chicago Department of Buildings. Authorities say “none of the violations (in city records) would have contributed to an explosion or structural failure in the building.” Roman Viere, the building’s owner, said in a statement: “This is a devastating event and we are devastated for all our residents. “Our first concern is the health, welfare and safety of our residents. We are doing everything we can to work with the emergency services and we stand ready to do everything we can to support our residents.”
WATCH: ‘It’s very tragic’: West Side mayor reacts to building collapse
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was on scene, as was the CPD bomb squad. In a statement, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said, “My thoughts are with those injured and displaced by 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 contain the dangerous I am following the events closely and both the Chicago Fire Department (CFD) and the Department of Buildings (DOB) are on the scene at the time of the collapse. We will provide updates as the situation develops.” Copyright © 2022 WLS-TV. All rights reserved.
