May 28 (UPI) -- At least seven are injured and two missing after an explosion tore apart the façade of an historic building housing a bank and apartments in downtown Youngstown, Ohio, Tuesday afternoon.
The Realty Building at 47 E. Federal St. in Youngstown houses a Chase bank and several apartments that local media reported exploded due to a natural gas leak.
Youngstown Fire Chief Barry Finley said two people are missing. One is a bank employee and the other a woman.
"We honestly don't know if that person is down there or not," Finley told WTAE 4 regarding the missing bank employee.
Finley initially cited a natural gas leak as the explosion's cause but afterward said the cause is being determined.
"All I know for sure is there was an explosion,"Finley told media Tuesday evening.
The seven injured people include one who is in critical condition. All seven are undergoing treatment at Mercy Health hospital.
The first floor collapsed into the building's basement, so rescue crews are using drones to help search for the two the two missing people.
The Realty Building is 13 stories tall and has the bank on its ground floor and apartments in the 12 floors above it.
The building was built 100 years ago and is a local historic landmark.
Youngstown is located about 70 miles southeast of Cleveland and 70 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.
