Photo: Chicago Fire Department Twitter
A South Austin apartment building exploded on Tuesday morning shortly after 9:30 a.m off of West West End Avenue. According to WGN9, ten ambulances arrived at the scene of the burning four story, 35-unit apartment building. There has been no information released regarding the number of residents inside of the building at the time of the explosion.
WGN9 mentioned that eight residents were taken to the hospital for injuries sustained during the explosion. Three of the injured have been reported in serious condition.
“Our first concern is the health, well-being and safety of our residents,” building owner Roman Viere shared. “We are doing everything we can to cooperate with emergency services, and we are ready to do whatever we can to support our residents.”
So far, one car has been found entirely crushed under the rubble as bricks haphazardly cover the streets. The Chicago Fire Department took to Twitter to update community members and share video footage of the aftermath.
In the video, viewers can see the top part of the building blown off, cars crushed by fallen rubble, and windows shattered. Firefighters evacuated adjacent buildings while trying to extinguish the blaze from the explosion. Officials are currently investigating the cause of the explosion, and believe it to have originated from the fourth story of the building.