Gas explosion at Florida jail kills 2 inmates
Print Edition
AN apparent gas explosion rocked a jail in Florida, United States, killing two inmates, injuring more than 100 people, and causing the building to partially collapse, according to a county spokeswoman.
The jail is almost completely destroyed, Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan told a news conference yesterday morning. Not all inmates were yet accounted for, he said, with officials waiting until the building was safe to enter. He said it was possible some inmates had escaped.
At the blast site yesterday morning, pieces of glass and brick were strewn about on the ground. The front of the building appeared bowed out, with cracks throughout. Authorities blocked off roads leading to the jail.
The explosion happened on Wednesday night at a booking facility at the Escambia County Jail in Pensacola, and as many as 150 inmates and corrections officers were injured, said Kathleen Castro, the county’s public information manager.
About 600 inmates, including 400 women, were in the building at the time, Castro said. Those with injuries — all minor — were taken to hospitals and the uninjured were taken to jails in neighboring counties.
The Pensacola area was drenched by heavy rains on Wednesday as part of a large storm system across the US, and Castro said the building was affected. But she said officials did not yet know whether the flooding and explosion were directly related.
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