Firefighters responded to an explosion in a Chicago residential building on Tuesday and found rubble covering the street.
The collapse occurred around 9 a.m. at a multi-unit apartment building at 5601 W. West End Avenue in the city’s Austin neighborhood. A level 1 Hazmat truck was dispatched, along with the Chicago Police Department bomb unit and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. The building next door was evacuated, according to the Chicago Fire Department.
It was reported that “several” of those injured were in critical condition after first responders requested 10 ambulances.
Several fire engines responded to the scene, but there was no active fire. The source of the explosion remains unknown. A “mass casualty EMS bus” eventually arrived to aid the injured.
It was announced at noon local time that the four-story building had been searched by the CFD.
On the west side of the city, firefighters evacuated a building adjacent to the explosion site.
The Chicago Police Department’s bomb squad and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) also responded to the scene.
“There are six transports from Central & West End,” CFD reported. “1 red & 1 yellow to Loyola (2 males); 2 yellow to Sinai (1 female & 1 male); 1 F yellow to West Sub; 1 red M to Sinai.”
Red refers to critical injuries, while yellow refers to less severe injuries.
Reports have not confirmed the cause of the explosion.
For more on this story, please consider these sources:
- Eight injured after building explodes on Chicago’s West Side Chicago Tribune
- Chicago Fire Department calls for ‘mass casualty bus’ after explosion at residential building Fox News
- At least 8 taken to hospitals after a Chicago building explosion CNN
- 8 hospitalized after South Austin building explosion WGN TV Chicago
- Firefighters respond to Chicago building explosion; several people injured CBS News