Five people may be missing, Fire Chief Kevin Dippolito said, but officials emphasized the number is preliminary. The number injured is also not immediately clear as patients were taken to multiple hospitals, he said.
The cause of the explosion remains under investigation, but officials’ preliminary belief is that it was a gas leak, Shapiro said.
We did reach out to them for a comment but so far have not yet heard back.
One woman who works at the facility said she has been trying to contact co-workers, but no one is answering their phones. That woman also told Action News that she flagged a gas smell over the weekend.
A man who showed up at the scene said his wife works at the nursing home and he hasn't yet heard from her.
The public is being asked to avoid the area due to the large emergency response, with police calling this a 'mass casualty incident.'
Rescuers have been called in from neighboring Montgomery County, the city of Philadelphia and New Jersey.
