SOUTHGATE, Mich. — An explosion destroyed a house before dawn Thursday in suburban Detroit, killing a woman who was trapped in the rubble and severely injuring a man who was blown to the front yard.
“Both had extensive burns and internal injuries,” Southgate police Det. Sgt. Nathan Mosczynski said. “The woman also had an extensive leg injury.”
The explosion woke up the neighborhood before 6 a.m. A couch crashed into a window across the street and debris landed blocks away, some of it hanging from trees.
“I thought it was thunder at first,” Arturo Ramirez, who lives nearby, told The Detroit News. “Then I saw a crack form on my ceiling.”
A 38-year-old woman was pulled from rubble inside the home and later died from her injuries, police said.
“Right now it’s being treated as a gas-related incident, but the root cause is still under investigation,” Mosczynski said.