Gas explosion in San Francisco Bay Area injures at least six people | California

A large explosion erupted Thursday in a neighborhood in Hayward, California, in the San Francisco Bay area, after a gas line ruptured, injuring at least six people, according to local media.

The explosion erupted around 9:30 a.m. local time, several hours after a construction crew damaged a gas line. At least eight fire trucks and two fire trucks responded to the three-alarm fire.

First responders transported half a dozen injured people to hospital. Their condition was not immediately known, ABC7 News said.

“We were sitting in the house and… everything shook. Stuff fell from the walls and when we looked at the camera it was like you were watching a war video,” resident Brittany Maldonado told the station.

Maldonado provided the outlet with doorbell camera footage that shows how an unassuming street was quickly engulfed by a cinematic bang and flaming gray cloud, followed by falling debris.

Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) said it was informed that a third-party construction company damaged the underground gas line around 7:30 a.m. local time while working.

The team was working on Lewelling Boulevard, which has been the site of an ongoing construction project to expand bike lanes and sidewalks, ABC7 News reported.

PG&E said it went to that damaged gas line to thwart the flow of gas, which was out at several points, at 9:25 a.m. local time. The explosion went off 10 minutes later, according to ABC7 News.

Firefighters responded to the explosion at 9:38 a.m. local time, the NBC Bay Area affiliate reported. Several buildings were on fire.

The explosion and fire significantly damaged three buildings. Another nearby building suffered “minor to major damage,” NBC Bay Area reported.