CLEVELAND, Ohio – Firefighters on Monday found the body of an elderly woman in the rubble of her Mt. Pleasant neighborhood apartment building that exploded Sunday, fire officials said.
The blast happened around 7:50 p.m. in the 3400 block of East 139th Street after a car struck the apartment, and then a nearby house, according to spokesman for the Cleveland Division of Fire, Lt. Mike Norman. At least 60 firefighters arrived at the scene to extinguish the fire.
The woman, who has not been identified, was seen in a unit in the apartment before the fire began. Officials were not able to locate her body Sunday night.
Fire officials believe the explosion happened because a gas pipe may have been broken when the vehicle struck the apartment building.
Firefighters rescued a different woman from the rubble Sunday. The woman was not injured. Four other adults were displaced from the building.
The driver and passengers who were inside the vehicle that struck the apartment fled the scene.
Two firefighters suffered minor injuries during the incidents.
