Maryville, MO- Kansas City.com – Two people died Wednesday night in a powerful explosion that leveled their home in this northwest Missouri community. A third person who survived the blast was hospitalized.
Lois Hall, 93, and her son, Carroll, 69, were killed in the blast, Keith Wood, Maryville public safety director, said Thursday. Wood said another son, Donald, 49, who also lived there, was taken first to a local hospital, then flown to the University of Kansas Hospital in Kansas City, Kan.
The explosion was reported just before 9 p.m. in an older neighborhood a few blocks south of the Northwest Missouri State University campus. Neighbors found the younger Hall crawling out from under the debris.
Wood had described his injuries as “very serious” and said he was “in and out of consciousness” before being taken from the scene.
Wood said officials were working Thursday to determine the cause of the explosion, which he had suggested may have been from a natural gas leak. Crews from the Missouri Public Service Commission, which regulates utilities, and from Aquila Inc., which provides natural gas service in the area, were assisting local authorities and the state fire marshal’s office in the investigation.
Wood said the Hall house had a natural gas furnace and hot water heater. The survivor spoke of having smelled gas earlier in the day, he said.
The explosion was heard and felt in a widespread area, with some people saying at first they thought there had been an earthquake.