An explosion at a Texas hotel in Fort Worth on Monday littered downtown streets with large section of building and debris and injured multiple people, authorities said. Investigators believe the blast was caused by natural gas, said Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives spokesperson Sara Abel, who was briefed by local police.
Quick Read
- Hotel Explosion in Fort Worth, Texas: Large explosion at Sandman Signature hotel.
- Downtown Streets Littered: Debris scattered across streets near Fort Worth Convention Center.
- Natural Gas Suspected: ATF and local police believe the blast was caused by natural gas.
- City Councilman’s Statement: Carlos Flores reported a gas leak and explosion on Facebook.
- Emergency Response: Nine ambulances sent, multiple injuries reported, no fatalities so far.
- Injury Details Unknown: Types and causes of injuries not yet characterized.
- Historic Hotel: Sandman Signature Fort Worth Downtown Hotel, originally the Waggoner Building, dates back to 1920 and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Associated Press has the story:
Explosion at Texas hotel scatters debris across downtown Fort Worth, multiple people injured
Newslooks- FORT WORTH, Texas (AP)
An explosion at a Texas hotel in Fort Worth on Monday littered downtown streets with large section of building and debris and injured multiple people, authorities said.
Investigators believe the blast was caused by natural gas, said Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives spokesperson Sara Abel, who was briefed by local police.
Aerial footage in Fort Worth, Texas, showed debris from the hotel scattered across downtown streets as authorities said they were responding to a “major incident” and urged people to avoid the area. The Sandman Signature hotel is in a busy area of downtown about one block from the Fort Worth Convention Center.
Fort Worth City Councilman Carlos Flores posted on Facebook that there had been a gas leak and an explosion.
The city’s emergency medical service has sent nine ambulances to the scene and found “multiple” people injured, although a spokesperson could not immediately say how many. Desiree Partain of MedStar said there are not any fatalities reported so far but stressed that they were still assessing the situation.
Partain said she could not characterize the types of injuries that medical staff were finding and said she did not know their cause.
According to the hotel website, the Sandman Signature Fort Worth Downtown Hotel has 245 rooms and was built in 1920 as the “Waggoner Building,” named after cattle rancher and oilman William Thomas Waggoner. The building has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1979.
