Multiple People Injured When Chicago Building Crumbles After Explosion

CHICAGO — A building on Chicago’s West Side collapsed Tuesday morning after a nearby building exploded, leaving multiple people injured in the Austin neighborhood, Chicago fire officials said.

The explosion took place just after 9 a.m. on Tuesday on the top floor of an apartment building near the intersection of West End Avenue and North Central Avenue. On social media, Chicago Fire officials said that the department was requesting manpower for structure searches.

Fire officials said that the fourth floor of the apartment partially collapsed and that about 135 firefighters and first responders were dispatched to the scene.

Fire officials sent out an alert just before 10 a.m. that the adjacent building was being evacuated and fire officials said that eight people have been injured and taken to local hospitals. Fire officials said on social media that 10 ambulances were sent to the scene.

In a news briefing for reporters, Chicago Fire Department deputy fire commissioner Marc Ferman said that fire officials are shutting down access to the entire area while the investigation continues. Ferman said that fire officials do not yet know what caused the explosion and said that one of the eight people taken to local hospitals was a person who lives across the street from the apartment building.

Ferman said that an unknown number of residents have been displaced due to the explosion. Fire officials are still in the process of removing debris from the upper floor of the apartment building, Ferman said. Officials said that they believe that they believe that everyone has been removed from the building and that officials are in the final stages of their search for possible victims.

"We're just maintaining a safe distance so that we don't get injured anymore," Ferman said.

Of the eight people injured, Chicago fire officials said that three people were in critical to serious condition. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was en route to the scene as part of the investigation, the department said.

The injuries range from burns to traumatic injuries, Ferman said.

This is a developing story. Patch will update when more information becomes available.