CNN
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One person was killed and at least two others were injured when a house exploded in Harford County, Maryland, northeast of Baltimore, early Sunday morning, officials said.
The fire department was first called to respond to a gas leak at 6:42 a.m. outside a home on Arthurs Woods Drive in Bel Air, where officers found one victim, said Oliver Algrey of the Maryland State Fire Marshal’s Office. The news conference is on Sunday.
“However, as they approached the scene, they received several phone calls… this gas leak… the house had turned into an explosion,” Algre said.
An odor of gas was present in the area and the Baltimore Gas and Electric Company was notified, Algrey said.
Contract workers from the gas and electric company, who were on the scene at the time of the explosion, were first called to the nearby area to deal with a separate issue of electrical problems at the time of the incident, he said.
Officials said it was unclear whether the explosion at the home listed for sale was intentional or accidental.
“We are still actively processing the scene at this time,” Algre said.
Harford County Fire and EMS spokesman Jeffrey Sexton said authorities are working to notify the victim’s family before releasing more details.
A woman who lives next door was inside her home at the time of the explosion, but was treated for injuries, Algrey said.
“It was the house that suffered the most damage. However … due to the radius of the blast, there are going to be many structures,” Algre said.
A Baltimore Gas and Electric Company worker was also injured, but the extent of their injuries was unclear.
Sexton said the explosion was “one of the biggest explosions” he had ever seen.
Algere said officers will conduct a joint investigation with the Bureau of Special Operations, Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and local authorities.
Officials said they are carrying out search and rescue operations and are working to ascertain the extent of the explosion.
