A mysterious explosion destroyed a Missouri home Saturday morning, pulling six people alive from the rubble, authorities said.
All six people who were inside the Jefferson City home at the time of the explosion suffered moderate to serious injuries and were taken to University Hospital in Columbia, Missouri, the Jefferson City Fire Department said.
Police said some of the six people were treated at the scene for smoke inhalation. Two of them were in very bad condition and were rushed by helicopter to University Hospital’s trauma center.
Basic Cole County Emergency Medical Services Director Eric Hoy said half of the patients require life-saving treatment.
“Three of them were in critical condition and required extensive life support,” he told Colombian NBC affiliate KOMU.
Hospital representatives did not immediately respond to a request for an update on the patients Saturday night. Their gender and age were unknown.
First responders were called to a home near the Missouri River at 2:44 a.m. after receiving a report of an explosion at the home, according to the city’s Fire Department. He said he immediately noticed that the house had collapsed.
Daytime footage of homes showed buildings twisted and destroyed, some nearly flattened, on snow-covered ground.
The Jefferson City Fire Department’s Special Operations Rescue Team participated to help pull the victims from the rubble, the statement said.
“The extensive structural collapse and large amount of debris made rescue operations particularly difficult,” the fire department said in a statement.
Jake Hawley, deputy chief and public information officer for the Jefferson City Fire Department, said the department was fortunate to have 37 personnel on scene and the appropriate equipment on hand.
“We’re really grateful to have that equipment and we’re taking the time to train,” he told KOMU.
Rescue workers had to tunnel through multiple layers of rubble to remove at least one of the six pieces of debris, the ministry said.
Police said it took more than three hours to get all six animals out and rescue the two pets, which were turned over to animal control authorities.
The cause of the explosion is under investigation.
The state capital, Jefferson, is approximately 213 miles west of St. Louis.
