Police call explosion at nursing home near Philadelphia mass casualty incident'

"An explosion at a nursing home just outside Philadelphia collapsed part of the building and left people injured and trapped inside, authorities said. A plume of black smoke rose from Silver Lake healthcare center in Bristol Township, as emergency responders across the region gathered there. Police for Upper Makefield Township posted on social media that it was a mass casualty incident and warned people to avoid the area in Bristol, about 25 miles (40km) north-east of Philadelphia."

"Ruth Miller, a Pennsylvania emergency management agency spokesperson, said her agency had been informed that people were trapped inside. I saw smoke and I saw car after car after car was a fire truck or ambulance from all over the city, from all over, said the state representative Tina Davis, whose district includes the facility and who approached the scene in her car."

"The cause of the explosion was unclear. Nils Hagen-Frederiksen, press secretary at the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, said investigators from the safety division were headed to the scene. Hagen-Frederiksen said first responders and emergency management officials were describing it as a gas explosion, but that won't be confirmed until his agency can examine the scene up close. Davis said there was talk of using a nearby school as a temporary evacuation area."

An explosion at Silver Lake healthcare center in Bristol Township partially collapsed the building and left people injured and trapped. Emergency responders from across the region converged, and police declared a mass casualty incident while advising people to avoid the area roughly 25 miles northeast of Philadelphia. County officials reported receiving the explosion report at approximately 2:17pm and confirmed building collapse. Pennsylvania emergency management indicated people were trapped inside. Investigators from the Public Utility Commission's safety division were dispatched. First responders described the blast as a possible gas explosion pending on-scene confirmation, and officials discussed a nearby school as an evacuation area.

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