FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — An explosion at a historic Texas hotel in Fort Worth on Monday blew out windows, littered downtown streets with large sections of debris from the building and injured 21 people, including one person who was in critical condition, authorities said.
The blast flung doors and entire sections of wall onto the road in front of the 20-story hotel, where rescue crews found several people trapped in the basement, said Craig Trojacek, a spokesman for the Fort Worth Fire Department.
More than two dozen rooms were occupied at the Sandman Signature Hotel when the blast took place, Trojacek said. Authorities said they believe a gas leak caused the explosion and said the hotel had been undergoing construction.
“There is a smell of gas in the area and there are windows and things that were blown outside of the structure,” Trojacek said.
Four people were in serious condition and the others taken to hospitals had minor injuries, authorities said at a news conference.
The Sandman Signature hotel is in a busy area of downtown about one block from the Fort Worth Convention Center. Footage from news helicopters showed firefighters picking their way through the piles of drywall, shattered glass and mangled metal that coated the street outside the hotel. Authorities urged people to avoid the area.
Trojacek said a restaurant in the building had been under construction but said it was not definitive that is where the blast occurred.
Video posted to social media showed a man sitting on a street corner across from the explosion site and holding a woman at his chest. The man appeared to have blood on his forehead, and a medical technician knelt in front of him to tend to his wounds.
A grey haze covered normally busy streets of downtown Fort Worth as firefighters walked through layers of debris. Remnants of the building lay scattered across the street and over parked vehicles, and gaping holes could be seen on the ground.
People in buildings nearby the hotel Monday afternoon recalled hearing a loud crack that sounded like thunder and then seeing a wall of dust and papers sweep through the city streets. Outside, they were met with wreckage and the smell of gas.
“There was debris. There was insulation. There was office furniture,” Charlie Collier, 31, told The Associated Press.