Police expect death toll to rise in apartment explosion

SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) - Additional bodies will likely be found in the debris of an apartment explosion and fire in Maryland that has already claimed two lives and injured more than 30 people, police said Friday.

Montgomery County Assistant Police Chief Russ Hamill declined to say at a news conference how many people may still be unaccounted for in the explosion, which happened late Wednesday night.

Police said Thursday that two people were killed. Those victims still have not been identified. Hamill said Friday that the condition of the bodies made it impossible to determine their age or sex.

The county's acting fire chief, David Steckel, said Friday that the recovery process has been slow because of how badly the building was damaged.

"The building still presents as a collapse hazard, which is a dangerous situation for the personnel," Steckel said. "The movement of debris itself presents a challenge. Every time you move something, it has the possibility to impinge the integrity of the structure so we have to be careful and methodical."

Steckel said 50 fire and rescue personnel were working on the recovery efforts.

Witnesses described the explosion like a bomb going off, and people more than a mile away reported their homes shaking. Debris was scattered over 100 yards, including a door blown across a two-lane road and parking lot, and clothes hanging from a tree like Christmas decorations.

On Friday, authorities were still working to determine the cause of the blast. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives had roughly 30 people working the investigation, assisting local authorities.

No cause has been identified for the explosion, but residents reported smelling gas prior to the explosion. Officials responded to calls for a potential gas leak at the complex last month.

Among those injured were three firefighters who were treated and released Thursday. Officials described heroic efforts to save people trapped in the fire.

Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Battalion Chief Dan Ogren said Friday that the bodies from the two confirmed deaths have been taken to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for autopsies and identification.

In all, 34 people, including the three firefighters, were taken to hospitals for treatment. Hospital officials said most of those were released later in the day.

Nine hours after the explosion, firefighters on a ladder truck were still using a hose to put out the last of the fire and smoke still was rising from the building.

Mariama Turay, who has lived in the apartment complex for 30 years, said she chooses to view the explosion as a blessing, so loud that it woke everyone up and alerted them to get out.

"It was just like a bomb fell," she said. When she escaped her first-floor apartment, the fire was "right in my face."

Firefighters found people on upper floors who needed help, Montgomery County Fire Chief Scott Goldstein said at a briefing. They used ladders to rescue them.

"People were dropping children and jumping out of other windows," Goldstein said. "Everybody was getting out of the building as rapidly as possible."

Initially, fire officials said they were looking for five to seven people who were unaccounted for. Police later said they don't have a firm number.

The Red Cross was working with families to determine their needs. While Montgomery County is one of the nation's wealthiest communities, the neighborhoods inside the Capital Beltway in this section of Silver Spring are working-class areas, home to large numbers of Central American immigrants.

Paul Carden, regional disaster director for the American Red Cross, said Friday that 60 families will likely need extended assistance. Roughly 100 people a night have stayed at a Red Cross shelter established at a nearby community center.

Carden said those displaced are primarily Spanish speakers. Translators were being brought in to ease communication.

Carden said the nature of the explosion was especially traumatic.

"To basically be in an event where people were blown out of their beds ... and what they own is lying across the street, that's a key difference" from a typical fire evacuation, he said.

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Associated Press writer Sarah Brumfield in Washington contributed to this report.