Officials say that an explosion in downtown Youngstown, Ohio, on Tuesday hurt seven people, one severely, and left two people missing.
Police said the blast happened near Central Square on Tuesday afternoon and told people to stay away from the area.
Authorities say they don’t know what caused the explosion, which happened in a building with a Chase bank and flats.
At first, Youngstown Fire Chief Barry Finley said the event was a natural gas explosion. Later, he said that workers were trying to figure out if there was a gas leak.
When he spoke to the press Tuesday evening, Finley said, “All I know for sure is that there was an explosion.”
Mercy Health said Tuesday night that it is treating seven people who were hurt in the accident, with one person being in serious condition.
Finley said that a man and a woman had not been found after the house was searched. The fire chief said that the man works at the bank. He told them that after the blast, police were looking for his car.
“Until then, we have to assume he is in the building,” he said.
The floor fell into the flooded basement, and Finley said that search crews were working on getting a mini-drone sent in to help with the search.
The Chase Bank is on the first floor of the building. There are apartments on the 12 floors above.
Authorities say that the building has been evacuated and that all roads in the area will be closed forever because of the risk of a structural collapse.
Chase told ABC News that the company is “in close contact with local officials to make sure everyone in the building and the area is safe.”
The source said, “After that, we’ll work to figure out what happened and figure out how bad the damage is.”
Officials say that there is no proof of any wrongdoing at this time.
