Four people missing and two injured, including small child, as explosion reduces New Jersey home to rubble
- The explosion on Thursday destroyed the home in Buena Borough, NJ
- Officials are now treating the incident as a criminal case
- Witnesses reported hearing a ground-shaking explosion
Four people are still unaccounted and two are injured for after a New Jersey home exploded on Thursday morning, officials have said.
The explosion destroyed the home in Buena Borough, with officials are now treating the incident as a criminal case, according to Franklin Township Police Chief Matthew DeCesari.
The two injured people have been described as a woman in her 20s or 30s and a small child.
The child reportedly taken to a burn center in Pennsylvania.
Witnesses reported hearing a ground-shaking explosion before the single-family house was reduced to ashes.
The explosion destroyed the home in Buena Borough, New Jersey, on Thursday
The two injured people have been described as a woman in her 20s or 30s and a small child
‘We kind of err on the side of caution just in case it is – we can’t go backwards,” DeCesari told ABC 6.
‘So at this point we’re going to treat it as a criminal investigation until we determine whether it’s not or it is.’
Video of the aftermath shows a pile of rubble is all that’s left of the home.
The missing people have not yet been identified by police.
Several other homes were damages by the explosion and fire.
It comes one day after a fire destroyed another home in New Jersey.
Jennifer Wright, 39, Alaina Wright, 34 and her four-month-old baby River, and niece Angel Allan, 14, died in the devastating blaze while 67-year-old grandmother Brenda Wright was injured.
Witnesses reported hearing a ground-shaking explosion before the single-family house was reduced to ashes
The fire happened at around 12.30pm at a property in Lacey Township where a family of nine, across three generations, were living. Firefighters tried to save them but the roof collapsed and the crews had to evacuate.
Horrified neighbors described their screams and ran towards the house to help get them out of danger.
Relatives paid emotional tributes to the victims on social media and said they were ‘tragically taken away from us way too soon’.
A GoFundMe page was set up by John Milligan on behalf of his niece Angel to help raise money for the family’s funeral costs, housing and clothing.
‘Angel was at home when the home caught fire. Angel was tragically trapped inside the home along with her Aunt Alaina, Aunt Jen and baby River and were unable to make it out,’ he wrote.
‘The home was destroyed during this event. Not only were their home and belongings taken away, but the most beautiful, intelligent, loving and artistic daughter and sister were taken from them.
‘Angel leaves behind her loving mother Melanie, younger sister Hailey and older brother Max. Being a part of their loving family, we would like to make this tragic experience as painless as possible for them.’
It was determined by investigators at local and state agencies that the blaze began on the porch and ‘improperly discarded smoking material cannot be eliminated as the cause of the fire.’