WOMAN:
00:00:18
This building literally just exploded right in front of my eyes.
LILIA LUCIANO:
00:00:22
This video was taken moments after an explosion tore through the Silver Lakes Nursing Home Tuesday afternoon in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, about 25 miles outside of Philadelphia. Need the basement water turned off urgently. We got people surrounding down here.
LILIA LUCIANO:
00:00:39
Some 40 minutes later, massive flames overtook the building, ripping through the walls, blowing out windows, and trapping many of the elderly residents as it partially collapsed. Fire department personnel immediately went into a rescue mode. They pulled many residents out of the building via windows, doors, stuck in stairwells, stuck in elevator shafts.
LILIA LUCIANO:
00:01:04
Some neighbors in the area say the explosion shook the entire neighborhood. It sounded like a bomb.
LILIA LUCIANO:
00:01:12
Officials say it all began just before 2:30. When the explosion happened, crews from the Pennsylvania gas company were inspecting reports of a smell of gas in the area. State authorities say they suspect the source was a gas leak from a building next door. This is a very, very tragic moment for this community. Last night, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, along with law enforcement and fire officials, addressed the community, saying this is still a recovery operation. We believe all the patients are accounted for that were residents here. There may be an employee that we're looking for, but even that's not confirmed. Everybody else has been accounted for since last night. And police said that they initially thought that three people had died, but one person was resuscitated at the hospital. Authorities are investigating what caused this tragic explosion just two days before Christmas. Kelly? Yeah. Lilia, thank you for covering this tough story for us.
