IRVINGTON, N.J., Oct. 19 (UPI) -- An explosion blamed on a natural gas leak left at least one person dead and two houses in ruins Friday morning in northern New Jersey.
The blast occurred at 7:30 a.m. Friday in a three-family house under construction in Irvington, N.J., The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J., reported. An adjacent unoccupied house with six units was also leveled and the explosion broke windows in other nearby buildings.
Irvington Mayor Wayne Smith said that someone may have broken into the building to steal pipes, causing the gas leak and the explosion.
Fire Chief Gary Shumlich said at a news conference about four hours after the explosion that all possible victims had been located. Five people were injured.
Terrence Bowser, who was walking in the neighborhood, said that he saw a construction worker open the garage door of the house where the blast occurred. Then, he heard and felt the explosion.
"The house went down like the Twin Towers," Bowser told the Star-Ledger.
