BRISTOL TWP., Pa. (WPVI) — Two people are dead after an apparent gas explosion collapsed part of a nursing home in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday afternoon, leaving an unknown number of people trapped in the rubble.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro confirmed the two deaths at a news conference Tuesday evening. Rescuers believe five people remain unaccounted for, Shapiro said, but he cautioned that the numbers remain preliminary.
It happened around 2:15 p.m. at the Bristol Health and Rehab Center, also known as Silver Lake Nursing Home, on the 900 block of Tower Road in Bristol Township.
PECO confirms crews responded around 2 p.m. after getting reports of a gas odor.
The explosion occurred while crews were on the scene.
Video from the Action Cam showed flames erupting from the building. Debris could be seen scattered around the area.
An explosion and fire have been reported at a nursing home in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
This facility is operated by the Saber Healthcare Group, based in Ohio.
We did reach out to them for a comment but so far have not yet heard back.
One woman who works at the facility said she has been trying to contact co-workers, but no one is answering their phones. That woman also told Action News that she flagged a gas smell over the weekend.
A man who showed up at the scene said his wife works at the nursing home and he hasn’t yet heard from her.
The public is being asked to avoid the area due to the large emergency response, with police calling this a ‘mass casualty incident.’
Rescuers have been called in from neighboring Montgomery County, the city of Philadelphia and New Jersey.
“I saw smoke and I saw car after car after car was a fire truck or ambulance from all over the city, from all over,” State Rep. Tina Davis, whose district includes the center, told the Associated Press. She approached the scene in her car but did not want to interfere with response efforts.
Davis said there was talk of using a nearby school as a temporary evacuation area. The nursing home has 174 beds, according to a state report.
Jim Morgan, president of the Bristol Township School Board, said district buses will be taking people from the emergency scene at the nursing home to a reunification center at Truman High School.
He said officials were working on setting up beds and providing water and other needs to residents.
“We understand that there are people trapped inside,” said Ruth Miller, a Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency spokesperson.
“It’s just so sad – it’s that hopeful time of year. This is just something that is sad for everybody and the families and the workers that are there. I hope there’s positive results from this. We don’t know at this point,” Davis said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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