A natural gas explosion rocked an apartment complex at an Army base, killing a 5-year-old girl and injuring 17 residents and rescuers, authorities said. The girl's remains were discovered in the rubble of the building at 9:30 a.m. today, about 12 hours after it blew up, officials at Fort Benjamin Harrison said. The blast occurred hours after fire authorities arrived to investigate a gas leak at another building in the complex. That building was being evacuated when the blast hit several hundred feet away, authorities said. The explosion, in a housing area for enlisted personnel, destroyed a four-family housing unit and damaged another unit, said post spokesman Maj. Ronald Downing. ``The fire engines were trying to get in and we were trying to get out. It was total chaos,'' said Joan Adams, a resident of the complex. She described people running through streets in their pajamas, carrying children. At least 17 residents and firefighters were injured. By midday today, three people were still listed in critical condition, one of them a 4-year-old girl, authorities said. Marion County Deputy Coroner Charles W. Green said he could not conclusively identify the dead child until after dental records were checked. But base officials said there was little doubt it was the 5-year-old girl who had been reported missing earlier. Firefighters and police called off their search through the smoldering rubble after the body was found. The girl's identity was not released. Other members of her family were among the injured, Downing said. The post on the edge of town serves as a processing center for soldiers en route to the Persian Gulf, although none of those soldiers stayed in the affected area. Fire authorities had been called in about 5:45 p.m., or 3{ hours before the blast, after people reported smelling gas, Downing said. He said officials had planned to evacuate the 240-unit Harrison Village complex before the explosion. Harley said authorities turned the gas off at one housing unit where they thought the leak was occurring. But a nearby unit, where the gas had not been turned off, blew up, he said. Some residents complained that they were not adequately warned. Adams, whose husband is a sergeant, said that about two hours before the explosion, military police began telling residents that a gas leak had been found elsewhere in the complex and would be fixed. ``He told us there was no danger for us to stay there,'' she said. Her family had planned to leave anyway, because the complex was without heat and hot water, but the explosion happened before they did so, she said. Lt. Col. Bill Carey, provost marshal, said the building where the leak was detected was evacuated as a precaution, but ``we didn't feel the whole area needed to be evacuated.'' However, the blast occurred in another building about 800 to 1,000 feet away, he said, adding that ``prior to the explosion, we had not been to this building.'' The blast was felt more than two miles away. Wood and other debris were scattered where a two-story building once stood. Rubble was strewn over four blocks. About 210 families were evacuated after the explosion. ``Insulation was coming down like snow when we got here. One apartment was engulfed in flames and the other building was in flames,'' said State Trooper Anthony Blackburn.
A natural gas explosion rocked an apartment complex for enlisted personnel at Fort Benjamin Harrison Army base, killing a 5-year old girl and injuring 17 residents and rescuers. Three people were still listed in critical condition. Fire authorities were called in about 5:45pm, 3 hours before the blast, after people reported smelling gas. The gas was turned off at the housing unit where the leak was thought to be, but while that building was being evacuated, a unit 800-1000 feet away, where the gas had not been turned off, blew up. In this photo provided by the U.S. Army, soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division walk through a tunnel during training on May 12, 2017 near Camp Taji, Iraq.