LIVE VIDEO: Explosion Rocks Tacony

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nbcphiladelphia.com:

A violent explosion rocked the Tacony Section of Philadelphia Tuesday night as crews were working to patch a high-pressure gas main break.

One PGW worker was missing following the blast, according to sources.

Three other PGW workers and one firefighter were transported to local hospitals, sources said.



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A follow up to the story.

 

Family mourns PGW worker, 19, as officials investigate the gas-main blast

 

In Philadelphia's Tacony neighborhood, cars lay flattened as if by a steamroller, and a cleanup crew ripped away the charred and hollow remains of a chiropractor's office.

 

For nearly two blocks, windows above storefronts on the northwest side of Torresdale Avenue were shattered. The remnants of a Philadelphia Gas Works panel truck sat on a flatbed tow truck in the middle of Torresdale. The sides, floor, and roof of the vehicle were gone. A charred chassis, wheels, and engine were all that remained after a gas-main explosion Tuesday night that killed one person and sent six to hospitals.

 

A few miles to the northwest, in Fox Chase, a family grieved for a son who was buried in the rubble.

 

Mark Keeley was only 19, fresh out of Cardinal Dougherty High School when he joined his father last year as a full-time PGW employee.

 

At the accident site, PGW and local, state, and federal investigators have begun to search for answers to what caused the explosion.

 

It's a problem experts said they have seen many times before.

 

"This type of explosion isn't that unique. It happens every four or five days," said Carl Weimer, head of the Pipeline Safety Trust, an advocacy group in Washington state.

 

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