A massive explosion that leveled a New Jersey home early Sunday and reportedly killed two people was so powerful that neighbors said it sounded like a bomb going off.
The blast occurred around 2 p.m. in the Gloucester County community of Washington Township, according to police.
A statement on the explosion released by the Washington Township Police Department did not mention deaths or injuries caused by the blast. ABC News’ Philadelphia station, WPVI, cited law enforcement sources confirming that the bodies of a man and a woman were recovered from the rubble of the house.
The Washington Township Police Department referred all questions to the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office, which did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
The explosion occurred at 2:02 a.m. and prompted multiple 911 calls from neighbors reporting a loud explosion and fire in the area of Tranquility Court and Orion Way, according to a statement released by the Washington Township Police.
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“Responding officers arrived at 13 Tranquility Court and observed that the residence was fully engulfed in flames and appeared to have been heavily damaged by an apparent explosion,” according to the police statement.
Washington Fire Department firefighters arrived shortly after the police and extinguished the fire, according to the statement.
The cause of the blast remains under investigation by the police department, Washington Township fire investigators, the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office and the New Jersey Fire Marshal’s Office.
“It was a real loud boom. I said, ‘Something’s wrong,'” Jimmy Gibson, who lives near the house that exploded, told WPVI. “The whole house was in flames… as soon as the explosion happened.”
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Video taken by WPVI showed damage to at least one home near the destroyed house. The footage also showed a car that had apparently been damaged in the explosion.
Neighbors who live blocks from he explosion reported being rattled awake.
“It was huge, huge; sounded like a bomb went off,” neighbor Suzanne Pinto told WPVI.
Neighbor Jill Rauf told WPVI that she, her husband and dog evacuated their home upon hearing the explosion.
“I’ve never seen anything like that before,” said Rauf, adding that the house that blew up was engulfed in flames.
Massive explosion levels New Jersey home, rocks neighborhood originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
