Tribune wire reports
8:43 a.m. CDT, May 1, 2014
Two inmates were killed and between 100 and 150 prisoners and guards injured in an apparent gas explosion at a jail in northern Florida late on Wednesday, a county official said.
The blast partly leveled the four-story Escambia County Jail’s central booking facility, which held roughly 600 inmates, at about 11 p.m., county spokeswoman Kathleen Castro said. No escapees were reported.
“The building is still standing, it’s just unstable and partially collapsed,” Castro told Reuters, describing the incident as an “apparent gas explosion”.
“We have reports people heard an explosion and smelled gas. There was no fire,” she said, adding that the blast may have been related to severe storms that have hit the southern United States.
“The facility did receive extensive flooding as a result of the rains yesterday,” Castro said.
She said two inmates were killed and between 100 and 150 of those present were injured, adding it was unclear how the inmates died or the breakdown of injured inmates and guards.