A two-story residential building in Newark partially collapsed Friday evening after a reported explosion.
Local police and fire department crews responded to the building on South Pine Lane around 6 p.m. The explosion turned the two apartments, run by the Newark Housing Authority, into a pile of rubble.
"It felt like a bomb hit this place the whole complex shook," one neighbor told News 4.
Officials say six people were injured, five of which were taken to the hospital. A woman among those hurt suffered serious burns.
Firefighters sifted through what is left of the apartment building in the hours after the blast.
City officials say 13 people can't go back inside.
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"We're going to relocate them temporarily into hotels, provide them food as as assess the condition of the building and what our next steps are," one emergency official said.
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Emergency officials continued to investigate late into the night what caused the blast and which apartment it originated from.
PSE&G shut off the gas and was investigating to make sure there is no gas leak. The housing director says he has received no reports of there being a smell of gas for a long period of time.
As the investigation into the explosion gets underway, so do the efforts to clear the debris and clean up the destruction.
"We're gonna be here all night, we're here for the long haul," Mayor Ras Baraka said at a late night press briefing.
