Suspected gas leak causes explosion at New York church, several people injured

By Yasin Gungor

ISTANBUL (AA) - An explosion at a church in Boonville, a village in Oneida County in upstate New York, left several people injured on Tuesday after a reported gas leak, according to local media and emergency services.

“Pray for the Abundant Life Church on SR 12 in Boonville for an explosion in the building with multiple injuries,” Grace Church Utica, New York, said on Facebook.

Rescue personnel were dispatched after the blast at approximately 10:45 a.m. local time (1545 GMT), according to the Daily Sentinel, a newspaper serving the Utica-Rome metropolitan area.

The explosion was preceded by a report of a gas odor at 10:23 a.m., with the Boonville Fire Department responding alongside other emergency personnel, the newspaper reported.

A church member wrote on the church’s Facebook page that the pastor and another congregant had called a propane company to address “an obvious gas leak” shortly before the explosion.

“The two of them and a few other responders were in the building at the time of the explosion,” she wrote, adding that they sustained burns requiring medical treatment.

The building was “nearly fully engulfed in flames and smoke” about 15 minutes after the blast, according to the post.
The cause of the explosion was not immediately determined.