© Josh Forst/APAftermath of the gas explosion in Ewing, New Jersey
A gas leak and explosion in New Jersey killed one person, injured seven workers, destroyed 10 homes and damaged another 45, authorities said.
The body of a woman was found on a car near the site of an explosion in a New Jersey housing development. Police were waiting for the results of an autopsy for positive identification of the victim. Officials did not know whether the victim lived at the development.
Police said the blast happened on Tuesday after a gas line was damaged by contractors who were digging in the area. The utility PSE&G said it received a call that a contractor had damaged a gas line and crews were repairing the line when it exploded.
At least 10 town homes were destroyed in the Trenton suburb of Ewing and 45 others damaged.
The force from the explosion buckled windows in an apartment complex nearby, said resident Marsha Brown, and pictures fell from her walls. "It felt like a bomb," she said.
She saw a home engulfed in flames and two utility workers on the lawn with injuries that apparently included broken bones.
Three of the victims were hospitalised with non-life-threatening injuries, said Dr Louis D'Amelio at Capital Regional Medical Centre in Trenton. They included concussion, broken bones and shrapnel wounds, he said.
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