Maine news, sports, weather from Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram, Portland, Maine

Deadly gas explosion flattens LA building

The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES - A deadly gas explosion obliterated an industrial building with such violent force Friday that a worker was hurled into the street, car windows were shattered and a survivor had his hair singed in the inferno.

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A Los Angeles firefighter walks past a partially collapsed building where an apparent natural gas explosion occurred. The explosion also hurled two workers into the street, killing one and leaving the other in critical condition, officials said.

The Associated Press

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One man died and another was critically injured in the blast that was blamed on a gas line that had been tampered with and rerouted.

Jonathan Apol, 20, a welder at a neighboring business, was putting on his work overalls when the explosion rocked the South Los Angeles street. He ran outside in his boxer shorts and saw the building engulfed in flames.

"It sounded like a plane had crashed in there," Apol said. "It was like a bang, then two seconds later, two more bangs."

Fragments of melting asphalt rooftop were sprayed across the street, and smashed floor tiles were hurled at least 50 feet from the metalworking business.

Apol said he saw two dazed men in front of the burning building. One was shouting the name of business owner Jaime Lara into the flames.

"He was just shouting his name ... but I don't think (he) responded," Apol said.

Daniel Ibarra, one of the dazed workers, said he had just taken some trash outside when the blast hit. The 27-year-old appeared in shock as he leaned against a wall with a bruised leg surveying the damage.

"I was very lucky," said Ibarra, whose black hair was singed.

The explosion blew one man across the street with severe burns. Firefighters could find no heartbeat and initially said he had been killed, but he was later revived at a hospital.

Another man died as he tried to move his truck away from the building and was jolted by a power line that fell on the vehicle, fire Capt. Stephen Ruda said.