Baltimore gas explosion: security footage of the explosion that killed two people

Home security footage captured the gruesome moment of a gas explosion that ravaged three Baltimore homes this week, killing a 61-year-old woman and a 20-year-old sophomore and injuring seven others.

The shock explosion completely razed homes in the Labyrinth and Reisterstown Road neighborhood on Monday morning, sparking a desperate search for survivors among the rubble.

Authorities identified the two killed as Lonnie Herriott, 61, who was found dead shortly after the explosion and Joseph Graham, 20, whose body was found early Tuesday morning.

Seven others were injured, including a 34-year-old man who remains in critical condition.

A 20-year-old man and a 65-year-old man are hospitalized in stable condition while four others – a 27-year-old woman, a 37-year-old woman, a 64-year-old man and a 93-year-old old man – have all been released from hospital.

The cause of the deadly explosion continues to be investigated after gas supplier Baltimore Gas and Electric said Thursday an inspection of its equipment found no defects or leaks.

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Home security footage captured the gruesome moment of a gas explosion that ravaged three Baltimore homes this week, killing a 61-year-old woman and a 20-year-old sophomore and injuring seven others.

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The shock explosion completely razed homes in Labyrinth and Reisterstown Road on Monday morning

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The video (provided by Tammy Bass via Storyful), captured by a house’s doorbell camera across the street, shows an incredible explosion sending bricks and debris into the air.

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Images emerged of the exact moment the explosion occurred and devastated the local neighborhood as residents went through their day.

The video, captured by the doorbell camera of a house on the street, shows an incredible explosion sending bricks and debris into the air.

The house closest to the camera collapses completely within seconds, and a cloud of dust more than twice the height of the houses is sent up into the sky.

Rubble rains on neighboring houses and a cat flees the area.

The force of the explosion, which blew up windows at more than a dozen nearby properties and was heard several blocks away, is visible when the camera shakes.

The explosion ravaged the community just before 10 a.m. Monday morning, leveling three houses and leaving a fourth with its side ripped off.

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Pictured: Joseph Graham, 20, was killed in the blast

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Shocked neighbors said they heard children screaming for help from the rubble before emergency services arrived at the scene and one survivor – a US military veteran – described the incident “like Korea “.

According to initial reports, five people, including children, were trapped under the flattened houses.

Shortly after the explosion, Baltimore Fire confirmed that a woman’s body had been found and three more were taken to hospital in critical condition.

More than 200 rescuers combed the scene for survivors throughout the day, finding four more survivors during the intense mission and the body of a man early on Tuesday.

Firefighters identified the two victims on Wednesday as Herriott and Graham.

Graham, a sophomore engineering student at Morgan State University, was visiting a friend in one of the houses when the explosion ravaged the property.

His devastated friends and family have paid tribute to him as a big-hearted mediator and entrepreneur with plans to see the world, The Washington Post reported.

Graham’s longtime girlfriend Melajah Thomas, 18, told the outlet she was ‘heartbroken’ and said he ‘would be carried through me forever’.

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Authorities identified the two killed as Lonnie Herriott, 61, who was found dead shortly after the blast, and Joseph Graham, 20, whose body was found early Tuesday morning whose body was found early Tuesday morning. In the photo, the first respondents on the scene Monday

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Seven others were injured, including a 34-year-old man who remains in critical condition

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Emergency responders pictured excavating the rubble of the three homes for survivors on Monday

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Fears had grown for the student on Monday when his desperate family failed to contact him after the explosion.

The young man’s uncle, Isaac Graham, told the Baltimore Sun Monday night that Graham was missing after going home for a party the night before.

Hopes of finding the second sophomore alive were dashed when rescue crews discovered his body around 1 a.m. Tuesday morning and firefighters confirmed the crews were now on a recovery – not a rescue mission. .

This came after authorities announced that a woman’s body – now confirmed to be Herriott – was found around noon on Monday.

The identities of the seven injured people have not been released.

About 30 residents have been moved to temporary shelters, fearing that neighboring properties are also in danger of collapse, with around 200 people in the surrounding area affected by the blast.

The exact cause of the fatal explosion is still under investigation.

Fire officials confirmed immediately after the explosion that it was a gas explosion and officials from the BGE arrived at the scene, cutting off gas in the surrounding area.

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The cause of the deadly explosion continues to be investigated after gas supplier Baltimore Gas and Electric said Thursday an inspection of its equipment found no faults or leaks.

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Debris and rubble cover the ground following the deadly blast that tore and completely razed townhouses in Baltimore Monday morning.

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Neighbors gathered outside the blast site on Monday morning as rescue teams searched for survivors

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Firefighters transport an injured on a stretcher to the scene of the explosion in the residential area on Monday. It is now a recovery mission – not a rescue – officials said on Tuesday

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Health workers transport body to blast site on Monday

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But BGE said in a statement Thursday morning that its teams had completed the inspections and found that “all of its equipment – gas lines, gas lines, and gas meters, as well as electrical equipment – were operating safely and not. were not the cause. [of] the explosion of natural gas ”.

He said investigators were still examining “customer-owned piping and gas appliances” in the area.

The gas system infrastructure in the area dates back to the early 1960s, and BGE asked the Maryland Public Service Commission in 2018 to approve new infrastructure and a cost recovery mechanism to pay for necessary upgrades to close the many system leaks.

“Founded in 1816, BGE is the oldest gas distribution company in the country. Like many older gas systems, more of its core infrastructure and gas services are made from cast iron and bare steel – materials that are obsolete and likely to fail with age, ” BGE said at the time.

The explosion follows a series of other gas leaks in Maryland in recent years amid continued complaints that infrastructure is in need of repair.

Last year, a gas explosion ripped off the facade of an office complex in Colombia, housing more than 20 companies.

The explosion happened on a Sunday morning, meaning no one was in the building at the time and there were no casualties.

This follows a gas line rupture in 2016 that forced the evacuation of the Baltimore County Courthouse and a similar evacuation at Under Armor offices after a gas line rupture in 2012.