A dozen people in two refugee families from Myanmar gathering to celebrate the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha were injured after an explosion collapsed their house.
The explosion happened at around 4 p.m. Tuesday. Firefighters arrived to find a car stuck under the rubble, victims at the front and on the sides of the house, power lines down and a “strong odor of gas,” Syracuse Fire Department Chief Michael Monds said.
There were 13 people at the house, including nine children. One of the children was recovered from the car by firefighters.
As of Wednesday, the people staying in the home, Fuje Alam Bin Abdul Rahman, 42, and Rajumah Begum Binti Dil Mohammad, 33, were in stable condition, along with the parents of the visiting family Mohamad Alam Sayed Alam, 34, and Yasmida Nur Muhammad, 29, according to the Syracuse Post-Standard.
Five children ranging in age from 13 to 5 were in stable condition. Three other children ranging in age from 3 to eight months were listed as critically stable.
The remaining child, a 4-year-old, was not admitted to the hospital. The particular injuries were not specified.
“Where there’s an explosion, a collapse, you have crush injuries, burn injuries … based on where they were in the collapse,” Chief Monds said.
The car was not involved, and was “in the wrong place at the wrong time,” SFD District Chief Matthew Craner told the Post-Standard.
Syracuse Common Council Member Chol Majok told Syracuse NBC affiliate WSTM-TV that the family staying in the collapsed house settled in Syracuse around five years ago, while the family visiting them had arrived in the city less than two weeks ago.
The two families were celebrating Eid al-Adha, which commemorates the prophet Abraham and his willingness to sacrifice a son out of obedience to God.
Gas provider National Grid is working to determine whether the explosion was caused by natural gas. There were no reports of a leak before the blast and collapse, the company told ABC News.
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.