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Tag: explosion

  • Gas explosion, fire on top floors of New York City apartment building kills 1, injures 14

    A gas explosion sent fire racing through the top floors of a high-rise apartment building in New York City early Saturday, killing one person and injuring 14 others as temperatures plunged into the single digits overnight, authorities said.Firefighters responded shortly before 12:30 a.m. to the 17-story building in the Bronx, where people were seen leaning out of windows calling for help as flames engulfed parts of the top floors, officials said.Chief John Esposito said firefighters were investigating reports of a gas odor on the 15th and 16th floors when the explosion occurred. He said there was major structural damage to about a dozen apartments and fires in 10 apartments on the 16th and 17th floors.Authorities did not immediately release information on the person who died. Another person was critically injured, five had serious injuries and eight had minor injuries, officials said.Officials said the building had been undergoing renovations, and work on the natural gas system had been completed and inspected. The cause of the explosion was under investigation. The building was formerly run by the New York City Housing Authority, but it has been under private management since 2024, city officials said.”It’s an incredible tragedy. We’re sending all our thoughts to the families involved,” Leila Bozorg, deputy mayor for housing and planning, said at a morning news conference.Mayor Zohran Mamdani said all utilities in the building were shut down, and all 148 apartments vacated. Officials set up a reception center for the displaced residents at a nearby school, and the American Red Cross was there to help provide housing and other needs.”As you can imagine, this has been a deeply frightening and devastating morning for them,” Mamdani said at a news conference Saturday afternoon. “They are not alone. Our city will stand by them and do everything in our power to help them get back on their feet.”The Red Cross said it had registered more than 100 households and 305 people, including 89 children, for emergency aid by early Saturday afternoon.More than 200 fire and emergency crews worked the scene, according to the fire department. When the explosion occurred, some firefighters were trapped briefly in an elevator, officials said.”There were injuries. It was a very, very difficult night on a very cold night, which caused even more difficulty,” Fire Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore said.Around half a million New Yorkers live in aging buildings run by the city’s housing authority, known as NYCHA, which is the largest in the nation.Many of the properties date back to the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. In 2019, a federal monitor was appointed to address chronic problems like lead paint, mold and lack of heat. When he wrapped his five-year term in 2024, the monitor, Bart Schwartz, noted that the overarching issue for residents remained the “poor physical state of NYCHA’s buildings.”In October, a massive brick chimney running 20 stories up the side of a housing authority apartment building in the Bronx collapsed after an explosion, sending tons of debris plummeting to the ground but amazingly not injuring anyone. Officials linked it to a natural gas boiler.

    A gas explosion sent fire racing through the top floors of a high-rise apartment building in New York City early Saturday, killing one person and injuring 14 others as temperatures plunged into the single digits overnight, authorities said.

    Firefighters responded shortly before 12:30 a.m. to the 17-story building in the Bronx, where people were seen leaning out of windows calling for help as flames engulfed parts of the top floors, officials said.

    Chief John Esposito said firefighters were investigating reports of a gas odor on the 15th and 16th floors when the explosion occurred. He said there was major structural damage to about a dozen apartments and fires in 10 apartments on the 16th and 17th floors.

    Authorities did not immediately release information on the person who died. Another person was critically injured, five had serious injuries and eight had minor injuries, officials said.

    Officials said the building had been undergoing renovations, and work on the natural gas system had been completed and inspected. The cause of the explosion was under investigation. The building was formerly run by the New York City Housing Authority, but it has been under private management since 2024, city officials said.

    FDNY via AP

    This image provided by FDNY shows FDNY members operating at a fire on the top two floors of a high-rise apartment in the Bronx, New York City, early Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026.

    “It’s an incredible tragedy. We’re sending all our thoughts to the families involved,” Leila Bozorg, deputy mayor for housing and planning, said at a morning news conference.

    Mayor Zohran Mamdani said all utilities in the building were shut down, and all 148 apartments vacated. Officials set up a reception center for the displaced residents at a nearby school, and the American Red Cross was there to help provide housing and other needs.

    “As you can imagine, this has been a deeply frightening and devastating morning for them,” Mamdani said at a news conference Saturday afternoon. “They are not alone. Our city will stand by them and do everything in our power to help them get back on their feet.”

    The Red Cross said it had registered more than 100 households and 305 people, including 89 children, for emergency aid by early Saturday afternoon.

    More than 200 fire and emergency crews worked the scene, according to the fire department. When the explosion occurred, some firefighters were trapped briefly in an elevator, officials said.

    “There were injuries. It was a very, very difficult night on a very cold night, which caused even more difficulty,” Fire Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore said.

    Around half a million New Yorkers live in aging buildings run by the city’s housing authority, known as NYCHA, which is the largest in the nation.

    Many of the properties date back to the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. In 2019, a federal monitor was appointed to address chronic problems like lead paint, mold and lack of heat. When he wrapped his five-year term in 2024, the monitor, Bart Schwartz, noted that the overarching issue for residents remained the “poor physical state of NYCHA’s buildings.”

    In October, a massive brick chimney running 20 stories up the side of a housing authority apartment building in the Bronx collapsed after an explosion, sending tons of debris plummeting to the ground but amazingly not injuring anyone. Officials linked it to a natural gas boiler.

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  • Damaged pipeline causes explosion in rural Pine County


    A damaged pipeline caused an explosion in Pine County, Minnesota, on Friday.

    Officials said 911 operators were inundated with calls around 1:45 p.m. on reports of an explosion in a rural area west of Willow River.

    Several fire departments and other law enforcement agencies were dispatched to the area. When they arrived on scene, they determined a large gas line was involved. A pipeline was damaged, according to Minnesota Energy Resources. 

    Several addresses near the pipeline were asked to evacuate at the time. Officials said no injuries were reported and that nothing criminal is suspected.

    With the damage to the pipeline, natural gas could no longer be sent to the Minnesota Energy Resources system. About 650 customers had their natural gas services interrupted. 

    The Minnesota Energy Resources is working to restore service. A temporary solution has been put in place to restore gas to impacted customers. 

    Chloe Rosen

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  • Gas cylinder explosion kills bride, groom and 6 others at wedding in Pakistan

    A gas cylinder explosion early Sunday after a wedding reception at a home in Pakistan’s capital killed at least eight people, including the bride and groom, police and officials said.

    The blast occurred as guests who had gathered to celebrate the couple were sleeping at the house, causing part of the house to collapse, according to the Islamabad police. Seven people were injured.

    In a statement, police said the explosion occurred in a residential area in the heart of the city. A government administrator, Sahibzada Yousaf, said authorities were alerted about the blast early Sunday and officers are still investigating. He said some nearby homes were also damaged.

    Injured people were trapped under the rubble and had to be carried out on stretchers by rescue workers, BBC News reported. Three neighboring houses were also damaged.

    Hanif Masih, the father of the groom, said his wife and sister-in-law were also killed in the explosion, BBC News reported.

    Mourners react after the death of their relatives following a powerful gas cylinder explosion at a wedding function in a neighborhood of Islamabad on January 11, 2026. 

    Muhammad Reza/Anadolu via Getty Images


    Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed grief over the loss of lives and offered condolences to the victims’ families, according to a statement from his office. He directed health authorities to ensure the injured receive the best possible treatment and ordered a full investigation.

    Sharif “prays for the speedy recovery of the injured,” his office said.

    Many Pakistani households rely on liquefied petroleum gas cylinders because of low natural gas pressure, and such cylinders have been linked to deadly accidents caused by gas leaks. Police said investigations were ongoing.

    In his statement, Sharif directed his administration to “educate citizens about safety measures” in the use of gas cylinders.

    In 2005, gas cylinders exploded in the basement of an apartment building in Pakistan, causing the three-story structure to collapse. At least 25 people were killed in that incident.

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  • Thousands temporarily lose power in Tuolumne County following transformer explosion, officials say

    Tens of thousands of residents were without power across Tuolumne County due to an explosion near a power station, according to the sheriff’s office. No injuries have been reported.Just after 5 p.m. Friday, the PG&E outage map showed nearly 30,000 without power across the county, including 1,957 households in Sonora and 27,773 households in unincorporated areas. By 6 p.m., power had been restored to about half the affected population, with 15,420 customers without power across the county.Leer en español. By 7 p.m., power was restored for most customers in the area.The Tuolumne County Fire Department initially said its crews responded to a reported lithium-ion battery explosion at Pacific Ultrapower near Chinese Camp around 4:15 p.m. However, the sheriff’s office later said crews determined the explosion was connected with a transformer at ENGIE, a facility neighboring Ultrapower.In a news release, ENGIE said its Sierra Battery Storage facility experienced an electrical issue around 4 p.m. and some electrical circuits and equipment tripped at the facility. The company said there was no fire on-site. Steve Gross, president of Jamestown Energy, told KCRA 3 that the incident was not at their facility, but at an adjacent facility where there is an energy storage project with lithium-ion batteries. Gross said that the incident knocked out the main line, affecting Jamestown Energy’s ability to send out power.Cal Fire crews also responded this evening. A battalion chief said they are always on high alert when they hear the word “explosion.””We were told that there was black smoke and an explosion. And after investigating, we noticed that it was a transformer that had exploded. And from there we just mitigated the cause of it,” Jeffrey Cox, Cal Fire TCU battalion chief, said.Although there was no fire when they arrived, Cox said, the crews assisted in evacuating the facility to ensure everyone’s safety.The fire department said localized evacuations of the plant were conducted and all employees are accounted for. Those evacuation orders have since been lifted. The extent of the damage is unclear. The Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office said there were no road closures or additional evacuations associated with the incident, but urged the public to avoid the area. The outage map shows the power loss was reported just before 4:30 p.m. Friday. ENGIE said its facility has been disconnected from the grid while technical experts are investigating the cause of the incident. KCRA 3 has reached out to PG&E for more information. Track PG&E power outages here. See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel

    TUOLUMNE, Calif. —

    Tens of thousands of residents were without power across Tuolumne County due to an explosion near a power station, according to the sheriff’s office. No injuries have been reported.

    Just after 5 p.m. Friday, the PG&E outage map showed nearly 30,000 without power across the county, including 1,957 households in Sonora and 27,773 households in unincorporated areas. By 6 p.m., power had been restored to about half the affected population, with 15,420 customers without power across the county.

    Leer en español.

    By 7 p.m., power was restored for most customers in the area.

    The Tuolumne County Fire Department initially said its crews responded to a reported lithium-ion battery explosion at Pacific Ultrapower near Chinese Camp around 4:15 p.m. However, the sheriff’s office later said crews determined the explosion was connected with a transformer at ENGIE, a facility neighboring Ultrapower.

    In a news release, ENGIE said its Sierra Battery Storage facility experienced an electrical issue around 4 p.m. and some electrical circuits and equipment tripped at the facility. The company said there was no fire on-site.

    Steve Gross, president of Jamestown Energy, told KCRA 3 that the incident was not at their facility, but at an adjacent facility where there is an energy storage project with lithium-ion batteries. Gross said that the incident knocked out the main line, affecting Jamestown Energy’s ability to send out power.

    Cal Fire crews also responded this evening. A battalion chief said they are always on high alert when they hear the word “explosion.”

    “We were told that there was black smoke and an explosion. And after investigating, we noticed that it was a transformer that had exploded. And from there we just mitigated the cause of it,” Jeffrey Cox, Cal Fire TCU battalion chief, said.

    Although there was no fire when they arrived, Cox said, the crews assisted in evacuating the facility to ensure everyone’s safety.

    The fire department said localized evacuations of the plant were conducted and all employees are accounted for. Those evacuation orders have since been lifted.

    The extent of the damage is unclear.

    The Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office said there were no road closures or additional evacuations associated with the incident, but urged the public to avoid the area.

    The outage map shows the power loss was reported just before 4:30 p.m. Friday.

    ENGIE said its facility has been disconnected from the grid while technical experts are investigating the cause of the incident.

    KCRA 3 has reached out to PG&E for more information.

    See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel

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  • On the ground in Venezuela: Shock, fear and defiance

    CARACAS, Venezuela — It was about 2 a.m. Saturday Caracas time when the detonations began, lighting up the sullen sky like a post-New Year’s fireworks display.

    “¡Ya comenzó!” was the recurrent phrase in homes, telephone conversations and social media chats as the latest iteration of U.S. “shock and awe” rocked the Venezuelan capital. “It has begun!”

    Then the question: “¿Maduro?”

    The great uncertainty was the whereabouts of President Nicolás Maduro, who has been under Trump administration threat for months.

    The scenes of revelry from a joyous Venezuelan diaspora celebrating from Miami to Madrid were not repeated here. Fear of the unknown kept most at home.

    Hours would pass before news reports from outside Venezuela confirmed that U.S. forces had captured Maduro and placed him on a U.S. ship to face criminal charges in federal court in New York.

    Venezuelans had watched the unfolding spectacle from their homes, using social media to exchange images of explosions and the sounds of bombardment. This moment, it was clear, was ushering in a new era of uncertainly for Venezuela, a nation reeling from a decade of economic, political and social unrest.

    Government supporters display posters of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, right, and former President Hugo Chávez in downtown Caracas on Saturday.

    (Matias Delacroix / Associated Press)

    The ultimate result was an imponderable. But that this was a transformative moment — for good or bad — seemed indisputable.

    By daybreak, an uneasy calm overtook the city of more than 3 million. The explosions and the drone of U.S. aircraft ceased. Blackouts cut electricity to parts of the capital.

    Pro-government youths wielding automatic rifles set up roadblocks or sped through the streets on motorcycles, a warning to those who might celebrate Maduro’s downfall.

    Shops, gas stations and other businesses were mostly closed. There was little traffic.

    “When I heard the explosions, I grabbed my rosary and began to pray,” said Carolina Méndez, 50, who was among the few who ventured out Saturday, seeking medicines at a pharmacy, though no personnel had arrived to attend to clients waiting on line. “I’m very scared now. That’s why I came to buy what I need.”

    A sense of alarm was ubiquitous.

    People stand around cars and a motorbike at a crowded gas pump.

    Motorcycles and cars line up for gas Saturday in Caracas. Most of the population stayed indoors, reluctant to leave their homes except for gas and food.

    (Andrea Hernandez Briceno / For The Times)

    “People are buying bottled water, milk and eggs,” said Luz Pérez, a guard at one of the few open shops, not far from La Carlota airport, one of the sites targeted by U.S. strikes. “I heard the explosions. It was very scary. But the owner decided to open anyway to help people.”

    Customers were being allowed to enter three at a time. Most didn’t want to speak. Their priority was to stock up on basics and get home safely.

    Rumors circulated rapidly that U.S. forces had whisked away Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.

    There was no immediate official confirmation here of the detention of Maduro and Flores, both wanted in the United States for drug-trafficking charges — allegations that Maduro has denounced as U.S. propaganda. But then images of an apparently captive Maduro, blindfolded, in a sweatsuit soon circulated on social media.

    There was no official estimate of Venezuelan casualties in the U.S. raid.

    Rumors circulated indicating that a number of top Maduro aides had been killed, among them Diosdado Cabello, the security minister who is a staunch Maduro ally. Cabello is often the face of the government.

    But Cabello soon appeared on official TV denouncing “the terrorist attack against our people,” adding: “Let no one facilitate the moves of the enemy invader.”

    Although Trump, in his Saturday news conference, confidently predicted that the United States would “run” Venezuela, apparently during some undefined transitional period, it’s not clear how that will be accomplished.

    A key question is whether the military — long a Maduro ally — will remain loyal now that he is in U.S. custody. There was no public indication Saturday of mass defections from the Venezuelan armed forces. Nor was it clear that Maduro’s government infrastructure had lost control of the country. Official media reported declarations of loyalty from pro-government politicians and citizens from throughout Venezuela.

    A billboard with an image of President Nicolas Maduro and spray-painted graffiti.

    A billboard with an image of President Nicolas Maduro stands next to La Carlota military base in Caracas, Venezuela, on Saturday. The graffiti reads, “Fraud, fraud.”

    (Andrea Hernandez Briceno / For The Times)

    In his comments, Trump spoke of a limited U.S. troop presence in Venezuela, focused mostly on protecting the oil infrastructure that his administration says was stolen from the United States — a characterization widely rejected here, even among Maduro’s critics. But Trump offered few details on sending in U.S. personnel to facilitate what could be a tumultuous transition.

    Meantime, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez surfaced on official television and demanded the immediate release of Maduro and his wife, according to the official Telesur broadcast outlet. Her comments seemed to be the first official acknowledgment that Maduro had been taken.

    “There is one president of this country, and his name is Nicolás Maduro,” the vice president said in an address from Miraflores Palace, from where Maduro and his wife had been seized hours earlier.

    During an emergency meeting of the National Defense Council, Telesur reported, Rodríguez labeled the couple’s detention an “illegal kidnapping.”

    The Trump administration, the vice president charged, meant to “capture our energy, mineral and [other] natural resources.”

    Her defiant words came after Trump, in his news conference, said that Rodríguez had been sworn in as the country’s interim president and had evinced a willingness to cooperate with Washington.

    “She’s essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again,” Trump said.

    Pro-government armed civilians patrol in La Guaira, Venezuela

    Pro-government armed civilians patrol in La Guaira, Venezuela, on Saturday after President Trump announced that President Nicolás Maduro had been captured and flown out of the country.

    (Matias Delacroix / Associated Press)

    Somewhat surprisingly, Trump also seemed to rule out a role in an interim government for Marina Corina Machado, the Venezuelan Nobel Peace Prize laureate and longtime anti-Maduro activist.

    “She’s a very nice woman, but doesn’t have respect within the country,” Trump said of Machado.

    Machado is indeed a controversial figure within the fractured Venezuelan opposition. Some object to her open calls for U.S. intervention, preferring a democratic change in government.

    Nonetheless, her stand-in candidate, Edmundo González, did win the presidency in national balloting last year, according to opposition activists and others, who say Maduro stole the election.

    “Venezuelans, the moment of liberty has arrived!” Machado wrote in a letter released on X. “We have fought for years. … What was meant to happen is happening.”

    Not everyone agreed.

    “They want our oil and they say it’s theirs,” said Roberto, 65, a taxi driver who declined to give his last name for security reasons. “Venezuelans don’t agree. Yes, I think people will go out and defend their homeland.”

    Special correspondent Mogollón reported from Caracas and staff writer McDonnell from Boston. Contributing was special correspondent Cecilia Sánchez Vidal in Mexico City.

    Mery Mogollon, Patrick J. McDonnell

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  • US strikes Venezuela and says its leader has been captured and flown out of the country

    The United States captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and flew him out of the country in an extraordinary nighttime operation that was accompanied by a flurry of strikes following months of escalating Trump administration pressure on the oil-rich South American nation.The U.S. is now deciding next steps for Venezuela, President Donald Trump said Saturday on Fox News, adding, “We’ll be involved in it very much.”The legal authority for the attack was not immediately clear. The stunning American military action, which plucked a nation’s sitting leader from office, echoed the U.S. invasion of Panama that led to the surrender and seizure of its leader, Manuel Antonio Noriega, in 1990 — exactly 36 years ago Saturday.U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, would face charges after an indictment in New York. Bondi vowed in a social media post that the couple would “soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts.”Maduro and other Venezuelan officials were indicted in 2020 on “narco-terrorism” conspiracy charges, but it was not previously known his wife had been and it wasn’t clear if Bondi was referring to a new indictment.Video below: CNN chief international security correspondent on the context of this strikeVenezuelan ruling party leader Nahum Fernández told The Associated Press that Maduro and Flores were at their home within the Ft. Tiuna military installation when they were captured.“That’s where they bombed,” he said. “And, there, they carried out what we could call a kidnapping of the president and the first lady of the country.”Early Saturday, multiple explosions rang out and low-flying aircraft swept through the Venezuelan capital. Maduro’s government accused the United States of attacking civilian and military installations, calling it an “imperialist attack” and urging citizens to take to the streets.With the Venezuelan leader’s whereabouts not known, the vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, would take power under Venezuelan law. There was no confirmation that had happened, though she did issue a statement after the strike, demanding proof of life for Maduro and his wife.Maduro, Trump said, “has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country. This operation was done in conjunction with U.S. Law Enforcement.” He set a news conference for Saturday morning.The attack itself lasted less than 30 minutes, and the explosions — at least seven blasts — sent people rushing into the streets, while others took to social media to report what they’d seen and heard. Some Venezuelan civilians and members of the military were killed, said Rodríguez, the vice president, without giving a number.It was not known if more actions lie ahead, though Trump said in his post that the strikes were carried out “successfully.” The Pentagon referred questions about the safety of American personnel involved in the operation to the White House.The White House did not immediately respond to queries on where Maduro and his wife were being flown to.Maduro last appeared on state television Friday while meeting with a delegation of Chinese officials in Caracas.The strike followed a months-long Trump administration pressure campaign on the Venezuelan leader, including a major buildup of American forces in the waters off South America and attacks on boats in the eastern Pacific and Caribbean accused of carrying drugs. Last week, the CIA was behind a drone strike at a docking area believed to have been used by Venezuelan drug cartels — the first known direct operation on Venezuelan soil since the U.S. began strikes in September.As of Friday, the number of known boat strikes was 35 and the number of people killed at least 115, according to the Trump administration. Trump said that the U.S. is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels and has justified the boat strikes as a necessary to stem the flow of drugs into the U.S.Maduro has decried the U.S. military operations as a thinly veiled effort to oust him from power. Some streets in Caracas fill upArmed individuals and uniformed members of a civilian militia took to the streets of a Caracas neighborhood long considered a stronghold of the ruling party. But in other areas of the city, the streets remained empty hours after the attack. Parts of the city remained without power, but vehicles moved freely.“How do I feel? Scared, like everyone,” said Caracas resident Noris Prada, who sat on an empty avenue looking down at his phone. “Venezuelans woke up scared, many families couldn’t sleep.”Video obtained from Caracas and an unidentified coastal city showed tracers and smoke clouding the landscape sky as repeated muted explosions illuminated the night sky. Other footage showed an urban landscape with cars passing on a highway as blasts illuminated the hills behind them. Unintelligible conversation could be heard in the background. The videos were verified by The Associated Press.Smoke could be seen rising from the hangar of a military base in Caracas, while another military installation in the capital was without power.“The whole ground shook. This is horrible. We heard explosions and planes,” said Carmen Hidalgo, a 21-year-old office worker, her voice trembling. She was walking briskly with two relatives, returning from a birthday party. “We felt like the air was hitting us.”Video below: Caracas wakes up to a Venezuela without MaduroVenezuela’s government responded to the attack with a call to action. “People to the streets!” it said in a statement. “The Bolivarian Government calls on all social and political forces in the country to activate mobilization plans and repudiate this imperialist attack.”The statement added that Maduro had “ordered all national defense plans to be implemented” and declared “a state of external disturbance.” That state of emergency gives him the power to suspend people’s rights and expand the role of the armed forces.The website of the U.S. Embassy in Venezuela, a post that has been closed since 2019, issued a warning to American citizens in the country, saying it was “aware of reports of explosions in and around Caracas.”“U.S. citizens in Venezuela should shelter in place,” the warning said.Reaction emerges slowlyThe FAA warned all commercial and private U.S. pilots that the airspace over Venezuela and the small island nation of Curacao, just off the coast of the country, was off limits “due to safety-of-flight risks associated with ongoing military activity.”The Armed Services committees in both houses of Congress, which have jurisdiction over military matters, have not been notified by the administration of any actions, according to a person familiar with the matter and granted anonymity to discuss it.Lawmakers from both political parties in Congress have raised deep reservations and flat-out objections to the U.S. attacks on boats suspected of drug smuggling near the Venezuelan coast and Congress has not specifically approved an authorization for the use of military force for such operations in the region.Connecticut Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said he had seen no evidence that would justify Trump striking Venezuela without approval from Congress and demanded an immediate briefing by the administration on “its plan to ensure stability in the region and its legal justification for this decision.”Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said the military action and seizure of Maduro marks “a new dawn for Venezuela,” saying that “the tyrant is gone.” He posted on X hours after the strike. His boss, Rubio, reposted a post from July that said Maduro “is NOT the President of Venezuela and his regime is NOT the legitimate government.”Cuba, a supporter of the Maduro government and a longtime adversary of the United States, called for the international community to respond to what President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez called “the criminal attack.”“Our zone of peace is being brutally assaulted,” he said on X. Iran’s Foreign Ministry also condemned the strikes.President Javier Milei of Argentina praised the claim by his close ally, Trump, that Maduro had been captured with a political slogan he often deploys to celebrate right-wing advances: “Long live freedom, dammit!” Toropin and AP journalist Lisa Mascaro reported from Washington.

    CARACAS, Venezuela —

    The United States captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and flew him out of the country in an extraordinary nighttime operation that was accompanied by a flurry of strikes following months of escalating Trump administration pressure on the oil-rich South American nation.

    The U.S. is now deciding next steps for Venezuela, President Donald Trump said Saturday on Fox News, adding, “We’ll be involved in it very much.”

    The legal authority for the attack was not immediately clear. The stunning American military action, which plucked a nation’s sitting leader from office, echoed the U.S. invasion of Panama that led to the surrender and seizure of its leader, Manuel Antonio Noriega, in 1990 — exactly 36 years ago Saturday.

    U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, would face charges after an indictment in New York. Bondi vowed in a social media post that the couple would “soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts.”

    Maduro and other Venezuelan officials were indicted in 2020 on “narco-terrorism” conspiracy charges, but it was not previously known his wife had been and it wasn’t clear if Bondi was referring to a new indictment.

    Video below: CNN chief international security correspondent on the context of this strike

    Venezuelan ruling party leader Nahum Fernández told The Associated Press that Maduro and Flores were at their home within the Ft. Tiuna military installation when they were captured.

    “That’s where they bombed,” he said. “And, there, they carried out what we could call a kidnapping of the president and the first lady of the country.”

    Early Saturday, multiple explosions rang out and low-flying aircraft swept through the Venezuelan capital. Maduro’s government accused the United States of attacking civilian and military installations, calling it an “imperialist attack” and urging citizens to take to the streets.

    With the Venezuelan leader’s whereabouts not known, the vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, would take power under Venezuelan law. There was no confirmation that had happened, though she did issue a statement after the strike, demanding proof of life for Maduro and his wife.

    Maduro, Trump said, “has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country. This operation was done in conjunction with U.S. Law Enforcement.” He set a news conference for Saturday morning.

    The attack itself lasted less than 30 minutes, and the explosions — at least seven blasts — sent people rushing into the streets, while others took to social media to report what they’d seen and heard. Some Venezuelan civilians and members of the military were killed, said Rodríguez, the vice president, without giving a number.

    It was not known if more actions lie ahead, though Trump said in his post that the strikes were carried out “successfully.” The Pentagon referred questions about the safety of American personnel involved in the operation to the White House.

    The White House did not immediately respond to queries on where Maduro and his wife were being flown to.

    Maduro last appeared on state television Friday while meeting with a delegation of Chinese officials in Caracas.

    The strike followed a months-long Trump administration pressure campaign on the Venezuelan leader, including a major buildup of American forces in the waters off South America and attacks on boats in the eastern Pacific and Caribbean accused of carrying drugs. Last week, the CIA was behind a drone strike at a docking area believed to have been used by Venezuelan drug cartels — the first known direct operation on Venezuelan soil since the U.S. began strikes in September.

    As of Friday, the number of known boat strikes was 35 and the number of people killed at least 115, according to the Trump administration. Trump said that the U.S. is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels and has justified the boat strikes as a necessary to stem the flow of drugs into the U.S.

    Maduro has decried the U.S. military operations as a thinly veiled effort to oust him from power.

    Some streets in Caracas fill up

    Armed individuals and uniformed members of a civilian militia took to the streets of a Caracas neighborhood long considered a stronghold of the ruling party. But in other areas of the city, the streets remained empty hours after the attack. Parts of the city remained without power, but vehicles moved freely.

    “How do I feel? Scared, like everyone,” said Caracas resident Noris Prada, who sat on an empty avenue looking down at his phone. “Venezuelans woke up scared, many families couldn’t sleep.”

    Video obtained from Caracas and an unidentified coastal city showed tracers and smoke clouding the landscape sky as repeated muted explosions illuminated the night sky. Other footage showed an urban landscape with cars passing on a highway as blasts illuminated the hills behind them. Unintelligible conversation could be heard in the background. The videos were verified by The Associated Press.

    Smoke could be seen rising from the hangar of a military base in Caracas, while another military installation in the capital was without power.

    “The whole ground shook. This is horrible. We heard explosions and planes,” said Carmen Hidalgo, a 21-year-old office worker, her voice trembling. She was walking briskly with two relatives, returning from a birthday party. “We felt like the air was hitting us.”

    Video below: Caracas wakes up to a Venezuela without Maduro

    Venezuela’s government responded to the attack with a call to action. “People to the streets!” it said in a statement. “The Bolivarian Government calls on all social and political forces in the country to activate mobilization plans and repudiate this imperialist attack.”

    The statement added that Maduro had “ordered all national defense plans to be implemented” and declared “a state of external disturbance.” That state of emergency gives him the power to suspend people’s rights and expand the role of the armed forces.

    The website of the U.S. Embassy in Venezuela, a post that has been closed since 2019, issued a warning to American citizens in the country, saying it was “aware of reports of explosions in and around Caracas.”

    “U.S. citizens in Venezuela should shelter in place,” the warning said.

    Reaction emerges slowly

    The FAA warned all commercial and private U.S. pilots that the airspace over Venezuela and the small island nation of Curacao, just off the coast of the country, was off limits “due to safety-of-flight risks associated with ongoing military activity.”

    The Armed Services committees in both houses of Congress, which have jurisdiction over military matters, have not been notified by the administration of any actions, according to a person familiar with the matter and granted anonymity to discuss it.

    Lawmakers from both political parties in Congress have raised deep reservations and flat-out objections to the U.S. attacks on boats suspected of drug smuggling near the Venezuelan coast and Congress has not specifically approved an authorization for the use of military force for such operations in the region.

    Connecticut Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said he had seen no evidence that would justify Trump striking Venezuela without approval from Congress and demanded an immediate briefing by the administration on “its plan to ensure stability in the region and its legal justification for this decision.”

    Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said the military action and seizure of Maduro marks “a new dawn for Venezuela,” saying that “the tyrant is gone.” He posted on X hours after the strike. His boss, Rubio, reposted a post from July that said Maduro “is NOT the President of Venezuela and his regime is NOT the legitimate government.”

    Cuba, a supporter of the Maduro government and a longtime adversary of the United States, called for the international community to respond to what President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez called “the criminal attack.”

    “Our zone of peace is being brutally assaulted,” he said on X. Iran’s Foreign Ministry also condemned the strikes.

    President Javier Milei of Argentina praised the claim by his close ally, Trump, that Maduro had been captured with a political slogan he often deploys to celebrate right-wing advances: “Long live freedom, dammit!”

    Toropin and AP journalist Lisa Mascaro reported from Washington.

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  • US strikes Venezuela and says its leader has been captured and flown out of the country

    The legal authority for the strike — and whether Trump consulted Congress beforehand — was not immediately clear. The stunning, lightning-fast American military action, which plucked a nation’s sitting leader from office, echoed the U.S. invasion of Panama that led to the surrender and seizure of its leader, Manuel Antonio Noriega, in 1990 — exactly 36 years ago Saturday.U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, would face charges after an indictment in New York. Bondi vowed in a social media post that the couple would “soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts.”Maduro and other Venezuelan officials were indicted in 2020 on “narco-terrorism” conspiracy charges, but it was not previously known that his wife had been, and it wasn’t clear if Bondi was referring to a new indictment. The details of the allegations against Flores were not immediately known.Multiple explosions rang out and low-flying aircraft swept through the Venezuelan capital, and Maduro’s government accused the United States of attacking civilian and military installations, calling it an “imperialist attack” and urging citizens to take to the streets.With Maduro’s whereabouts not known, the vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, would take power under Venezuelan law. There was no confirmation that had happened, though she did issue a statement after the strike.“We do not know the whereabouts of President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores,” Rodriguez said. “We demand proof of life.”Maduro, Trump said, “has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country. This operation was done in conjunction with U.S. Law Enforcement.” He set a news conference for later Saturday morning.The attack itself lasted less than 30 minutes and the explosions — at least seven blasts — sent people rushing into the streets, while others took to social media to report what they’d seen and heard. It was not known if there were any deaths or injuries on either side or if more actions lay ahead, though Trump said in his post that the strikes were carried out “successfully.”Video below: CNN chief international security correspondent on the context of this strikeSen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, posted on X that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had briefed him on the strike and said that Maduro “has been arrested by U.S. personnel to stand trial on criminal charges in the United States.”The White House did not immediately respond to queries on where Maduro and his wife were being flown to. Maduro was indicted in March 2020 on “narco-terrorism” conspiracy charges.Maduro last appeared on state television Friday while meeting with a delegation of Chinese officials in Caracas.The strike came after the Trump administration spent months increasing the pressure on Maduro, including a major buildup of American forces in the waters off South America and attacks on boats in the eastern Pacific and Caribbean accused of carrying drugs. Last week, the CIA was behind a drone strike at a docking area believed to have been used by Venezuelan drug cartels — the first known direct operation on Venezuelan soil since the U.S. began strikes in September.As of Friday, the number of known boat strikes was 35 and the number of people killed at least 115, according to the Trump administration. Trump said that the U.S. is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels and has justified the boat strikes as a necessary to stem the flow of drugs into the U.S.Maduro has decried the U.S. military operations as a thinly veiled effort to oust him from power.Some streets in Caracas fill upArmed individuals and uniformed members of a civilian militia took to the streets of a Caracas neighborhood long considered a stronghold of the ruling party. But in other areas of the city, the streets remained empty hours after the attack. Parts of the city remained without power, but vehicles moved freely.Video obtained from Caracas and an unidentified coastal city showed tracers and smoke clouding the landscape sky as repeated muted explosions illuminated the night sky. Other footage showed an urban landscape with cars passing on a highway as blasts illuminated the hills behind them. Unintelligible conversation could be heard in the background. The videos were verified by The Associated Press.Smoke could be seen rising from the hangar of a military base in Caracas, while another military installation in the capital was without power.“The whole ground shook. This is horrible. We heard explosions and planes,” said Carmen Hidalgo, a 21-year-old office worker, her voice trembling. She was walking briskly with two relatives, returning from a birthday party. “We felt like the air was hitting us.”Video below: Caracas wakes up to a Venezuela without MaduroVenezuela’s government responded to the attack with a call to action. “People to the streets!” it said in a statement. “The Bolivarian Government calls on all social and political forces in the country to activate mobilization plans and repudiate this imperialist attack.”The statement added that Maduro had “ordered all national defense plans to be implemented” and declared “a state of external disturbance.” That state of emergency gives him the power to suspend people’s rights and expand the role of the armed forces.The website of the U.S. Embassy in Venezuela, a post that has been closed since 2019, issued a warning to American citizens in the country, saying it was “aware of reports of explosions in and around Caracas.”“U.S. citizens in Venezuela should shelter in place,” the warning said.Reaction emerges slowlyInquiries to the Pentagon and U.S. Southern Command since Trump’s social media post went unanswered. The FAA warned all commercial and private U.S. pilots that the airspace over Venezuela and the small island nation of Curacao, just off the coast of the country to the north, was off limits “due to safety-of-flight risks associated with ongoing military activity.”U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, posted his potential concerns, reflecting a view from the right flank in the Congress. “I look forward to learning what, if anything, might constitutionally justify this action in the absence of a declaration of war or authorization for the use of military force,” Lee said on X.It was not clear if the U.S. Congress had been officially notified of the strikes.The Armed Services committees in both houses of Congress, which have jurisdiction over military matters, have not been notified by the administration of any actions, according to a person familiar with the matter and granted anonymity to discuss it.Lawmakers from both political parties in Congress have raised deep reservations and flat-out objections to the U.S. attacks on boats suspected of drug smuggling on boats near the Venezuelan coast, and Congress has not specifically approved an authorization for the use of military force for such operations in the region.Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said the military action and seizure of Maduro marks “a new dawn for Venezuela,” saying that “the tyrant is gone.” He posted on X hours after the strike. His boss, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, reposted a post from July that said Maduro “is NOT the President of Venezuela and his regime is NOT the legitimate government.”Cuba, a supporter of the Maduro government and a longtime adversary of the United States, called for the international community to respond to what President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez called “the criminal attack.” “Our zone of peace is being brutally assaulted,” he said on X. Iran’s Foreign Ministry also condemned the strikes.President Javier Milei of Argentina praised the claim by his close ally, Trump, that Maduro had been captured with a political slogan he often deploys to celebrate right-wing advances: “Long live freedom, dammit!”The U.S. military has been attacking boats in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean since early September. As of Friday, the number of known boat strikes is 35 and the number of people killed is at least 115, according to numbers announced by the Trump administration.They followed a major buildup of American forces in the waters off South America, including the arrival in November of the nation’s most advanced aircraft carrier, which added thousands more troops to what was already the largest military presence in the region in generations.Trump has justified the boat strikes as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the U.S. and asserted that the U.S. is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels.Toropin and AP journalist Lisa Mascaro reported from Washington.

    CARACAS, Venezuela —

    The legal authority for the strike — and whether Trump consulted Congress beforehand — was not immediately clear. The stunning, lightning-fast American military action, which plucked a nation’s sitting leader from office, echoed the U.S. invasion of Panama that led to the surrender and seizure of its leader, Manuel Antonio Noriega, in 1990 — exactly 36 years ago Saturday.

    U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, would face charges after an indictment in New York. Bondi vowed in a social media post that the couple would “soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts.”

    Maduro and other Venezuelan officials were indicted in 2020 on “narco-terrorism” conspiracy charges, but it was not previously known that his wife had been, and it wasn’t clear if Bondi was referring to a new indictment. The details of the allegations against Flores were not immediately known.

    Multiple explosions rang out and low-flying aircraft swept through the Venezuelan capital, and Maduro’s government accused the United States of attacking civilian and military installations, calling it an “imperialist attack” and urging citizens to take to the streets.

    With Maduro’s whereabouts not known, the vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, would take power under Venezuelan law. There was no confirmation that had happened, though she did issue a statement after the strike.

    “We do not know the whereabouts of President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores,” Rodriguez said. “We demand proof of life.”

    Maduro, Trump said, “has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country. This operation was done in conjunction with U.S. Law Enforcement.” He set a news conference for later Saturday morning.

    The attack itself lasted less than 30 minutes and the explosions — at least seven blasts — sent people rushing into the streets, while others took to social media to report what they’d seen and heard. It was not known if there were any deaths or injuries on either side or if more actions lay ahead, though Trump said in his post that the strikes were carried out “successfully.”

    Video below: CNN chief international security correspondent on the context of this strike

    Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, posted on X that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had briefed him on the strike and said that Maduro “has been arrested by U.S. personnel to stand trial on criminal charges in the United States.”

    The White House did not immediately respond to queries on where Maduro and his wife were being flown to. Maduro was indicted in March 2020 on “narco-terrorism” conspiracy charges.

    Maduro last appeared on state television Friday while meeting with a delegation of Chinese officials in Caracas.

    The strike came after the Trump administration spent months increasing the pressure on Maduro, including a major buildup of American forces in the waters off South America and attacks on boats in the eastern Pacific and Caribbean accused of carrying drugs. Last week, the CIA was behind a drone strike at a docking area believed to have been used by Venezuelan drug cartels — the first known direct operation on Venezuelan soil since the U.S. began strikes in September.

    As of Friday, the number of known boat strikes was 35 and the number of people killed at least 115, according to the Trump administration. Trump said that the U.S. is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels and has justified the boat strikes as a necessary to stem the flow of drugs into the U.S.

    Maduro has decried the U.S. military operations as a thinly veiled effort to oust him from power.

    Some streets in Caracas fill up

    Armed individuals and uniformed members of a civilian militia took to the streets of a Caracas neighborhood long considered a stronghold of the ruling party. But in other areas of the city, the streets remained empty hours after the attack. Parts of the city remained without power, but vehicles moved freely.

    Video obtained from Caracas and an unidentified coastal city showed tracers and smoke clouding the landscape sky as repeated muted explosions illuminated the night sky. Other footage showed an urban landscape with cars passing on a highway as blasts illuminated the hills behind them. Unintelligible conversation could be heard in the background. The videos were verified by The Associated Press.

    Smoke could be seen rising from the hangar of a military base in Caracas, while another military installation in the capital was without power.

    “The whole ground shook. This is horrible. We heard explosions and planes,” said Carmen Hidalgo, a 21-year-old office worker, her voice trembling. She was walking briskly with two relatives, returning from a birthday party. “We felt like the air was hitting us.”

    Video below: Caracas wakes up to a Venezuela without Maduro

    Venezuela’s government responded to the attack with a call to action. “People to the streets!” it said in a statement. “The Bolivarian Government calls on all social and political forces in the country to activate mobilization plans and repudiate this imperialist attack.”

    The statement added that Maduro had “ordered all national defense plans to be implemented” and declared “a state of external disturbance.” That state of emergency gives him the power to suspend people’s rights and expand the role of the armed forces.

    The website of the U.S. Embassy in Venezuela, a post that has been closed since 2019, issued a warning to American citizens in the country, saying it was “aware of reports of explosions in and around Caracas.”

    “U.S. citizens in Venezuela should shelter in place,” the warning said.

    Reaction emerges slowly

    Inquiries to the Pentagon and U.S. Southern Command since Trump’s social media post went unanswered. The FAA warned all commercial and private U.S. pilots that the airspace over Venezuela and the small island nation of Curacao, just off the coast of the country to the north, was off limits “due to safety-of-flight risks associated with ongoing military activity.”

    U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, posted his potential concerns, reflecting a view from the right flank in the Congress. “I look forward to learning what, if anything, might constitutionally justify this action in the absence of a declaration of war or authorization for the use of military force,” Lee said on X.

    It was not clear if the U.S. Congress had been officially notified of the strikes.

    The Armed Services committees in both houses of Congress, which have jurisdiction over military matters, have not been notified by the administration of any actions, according to a person familiar with the matter and granted anonymity to discuss it.

    Lawmakers from both political parties in Congress have raised deep reservations and flat-out objections to the U.S. attacks on boats suspected of drug smuggling on boats near the Venezuelan coast, and Congress has not specifically approved an authorization for the use of military force for such operations in the region.

    Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said the military action and seizure of Maduro marks “a new dawn for Venezuela,” saying that “the tyrant is gone.” He posted on X hours after the strike. His boss, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, reposted a post from July that said Maduro “is NOT the President of Venezuela and his regime is NOT the legitimate government.”

    Cuba, a supporter of the Maduro government and a longtime adversary of the United States, called for the international community to respond to what President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez called “the criminal attack.” “Our zone of peace is being brutally assaulted,” he said on X. Iran’s Foreign Ministry also condemned the strikes.

    President Javier Milei of Argentina praised the claim by his close ally, Trump, that Maduro had been captured with a political slogan he often deploys to celebrate right-wing advances: “Long live freedom, dammit!”

    The U.S. military has been attacking boats in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean since early September. As of Friday, the number of known boat strikes is 35 and the number of people killed is at least 115, according to numbers announced by the Trump administration.

    They followed a major buildup of American forces in the waters off South America, including the arrival in November of the nation’s most advanced aircraft carrier, which added thousands more troops to what was already the largest military presence in the region in generations.

    Trump has justified the boat strikes as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the U.S. and asserted that the U.S. is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels.

    Toropin and AP journalist Lisa Mascaro reported from Washington.

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  • Gas leak believed to be the cause of deadly nursing home explosions

    At least two people were killed, and about 20 others were taken to hospitals, after a gas leak is believed to have sparked two explosions and a fire at a nursing home in Pennsylvania. Lilia Luciano has more on the victims and the investigation.

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  • Nursing home explosion in Bristol, Pennsylvania, killed 1 staff member, 1 resident, officials say

    The two people killed in the explosions at a Bucks County, Pennsylvania, nursing home on Tuesday were a staff member and a resident, officials said.

    One of the victims was Muthoni Nduthu, 52, the Bucks County Coroner’s Office said. The name of the other victim has not been released.

    Bristol Township Police provided more updates Wednesday about the fatal explosions at the Bristol Health and Rehab Center on Tower Road, which was previously known as the Silver Lake Nursing Home. Officials said a gas leak led to two explosions and a fire and that there was a smell of gas at the scene.

    State records show Nduthu was a licensed practical nurse. 

    As of Wednesday morning, 19 people are still hospitalized, one of whom is in critical condition, Bristol Township Police Chief Charles Winik, Jr. said in a news conference. He could not provide more information on the nature of their injuries or say how many are residents or staff members.

    The violent explosions blew out windows and caused part of the building to collapse. That collapsed section contained the kitchen and cafeteria, with some utility areas and offices underneath, according to officials.

    Crews with heavy construction equipment are on the scene combing through the wreckage. Fire Chief Kevin Dippolito said investigators hoped to gain access to the collapsed portion of the building Wednesday afternoon. Once in place, investigators can work to determine the cause of the explosions, he added.

    “Until we excavate that area and remove the walls and roofs that collapsed we won’t have any idea what may have occurred in there,” Dippolito said.

    The investigation could take weeks or months, officials said. PECO said in a statement that the National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation.

    The fire chief said he could not recall any prior calls to the property recently for gas-related issues.

    Winik said the law enforcement response to the explosion was the largest he has seen in 20 years. 

    “I’ve never seen such heroism,” he said.

    Officials including Gov. Josh Shapiro and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick have also commended law enforcement, firefighters and staff from the nearby Lower Bucks Hospital for their help rescuing residents.

    Bristol Health and Rehab residents have been placed in other nursing homes and facilities owned by Saber Healthcare Group.

    Saber acquired the facility 24 days ago, the company said in a statement.

    “We could not be prouder of those men and women who, in the face of tragedy, stepped up to support one another,” the statement said in part. “We have worked to improve and fix prior issues, and we will continue that work in the wake of this event. We thank those who have offered their thoughts and prayers for our staff and residents, and we will continue to work to ensure the safety of the community in the days and weeks to come.”

    According to the Pennsylvania Department of Health and Human Services, there were 75 deficiency reports against Silver Lake Health Care Center between July 2022 and March 2025. The center was fined a total of $418,000. This was during the time the facility was managed by CommuniCare Health Services.

    Neighbors rush to help

    Newly released video shows the immediate aftermath of the blast at the facility.

    “It felt like an earthquake,” said Keenan Lovelace, who lives nearby. “Heard like a loud boom bang.”

    Residents who felt the blast raced to the scene to help.

    John Hibbs, who lives next door to the nursing home, said he ran outside after the explosion, telling his wife to call 911 while he tried to assist victims.

    “The windows were all blown out, insulation was falling from the sky,” Hibbs said.

    Hibbs said he helped pull five people from the rubble, including four employees, some of whom had serious injuries.

    “One lady’s face swelled pretty bad. She had a gash on her head,” he said. “The one lady was complaining she thought her ankle was broken. The other one’s knee, she thought was twisted. I just started handing people off to other people so I could go back and get the next one.”

    As neighbors helped evacuate survivors, Hibbs said his wife distributed blankets and towels to keep people warm.

    “To me, it’s just the right thing to do,” he said. “I would want somebody to help my family … if, God forbid, anything like that happened.”

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    At least 2 killed in Pennsylvania nursing home explosion; California flooding threat grows as wildfire survivors face Christmas evacuation.

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  • Explosion at a Pennsylvania nursing home kills at least 2, governor says

    A thunderous explosion at a nursing home just outside Philadelphia killed at least two people, collapsed part of the building, sent flames shooting out and left people trapped inside, authorities said.Video above: Neighbor describes sound of nursing home explosionPennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said in a news conference several hours after the explosion that at least two had been killed.The explosion happened at Bristol Health & Rehab Center in Bristol Township, just as a utility crew had been on site looking for a gas leak, although the cause of the explosion was unclear several hours later, as was the extent of the casualties.A plume of black smoke rose from the nursing home, as emergency responders, fire trucks and ambulances from across the region rushed there, joined by earthmoving equipment.Police Lt. Sean Cosgrove said he didn’t know if anyone was missing, and that residents had been evacuated by emergency responders, bystanders and staff.“A lot of the details at this point are still unknown,” he told reporters at the scene.Bucks County emergency management officials said they received the report of an explosion at approximately 2:17 p.m. and said a portion of the building was reported to have collapsed. Ruth Miller, a Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency spokesperson, said her agency had been informed that people were trapped inside.Willie Tye, who lives about a block away, said he was sitting at home watching a basketball game on TV when he heard a “loud kaboom.”“I thought an airplane or something came and fell on my house,” Tye said.He got up to go look and saw “fire everywhere” and people escaping the building. The explosion looked like it happened in the kitchen area of the nursing home, he said. Tye said some of the people who live or work there didn’t make it out.“Just got to keep praying for them,” Tye said.The cause of the explosion was unclear.The local gas utility, PECO, said its crews had responded to reports of a gas odor at the nursing home shortly after 2 p.m.“While crews were on site, an explosion occurred at the facility. PECO crews shut off natural gas and electric service to the facility to ensure the safety of first responders and local residents,” the utility said in a statement.Nils Hagen-Frederiksen, press secretary at the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, said investigators from the safety division were headed to the scene.Hagen-Frederiksen said first responders and emergency management officials were describing it as a gas explosion, but that won’t be confirmed until his agency can examine the scene up close.Musuline Watson, who said she was a certified nursing assistant the facility, told WPVI-TV that over the weekend, she and others there smelled gas, but “there was no heat in the room, so we didn’t take it to be anything.”The nursing home is about 20 miles northeast of Philadelphia. Its owner, Saber Healthcare Group, said it was working with local emergency authorities. The facility had been known until recently as Silver Lake Healthcare Center.Jim Morgan, president of the Bristol Township School Board, said district buses would take people from the nursing home to a reunification center at Truman High School. He said officials were working on setting up beds and providing water and other needs to residents.“This is just something that is sad for everybody and the families and the workers that are there,” Davis said.According to Medicare.gov, the 174-bed facility underwent a standard fire safety inspection in September 2024, during which no citations were issued. But Medicare’s overall rating of the facility is listed as “much below average,” with poor ratings for health inspections in particular.

    BRISTOL, Pa. (Video above: WPVI via CNN Newsource) —

    A thunderous explosion at a nursing home just outside Philadelphia killed at least two people, collapsed part of the building, sent flames shooting out and left people trapped inside, authorities said.

    Video above: Neighbor describes sound of nursing home explosion

    Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said in a news conference several hours after the explosion that at least two had been killed.

    The explosion happened at Bristol Health & Rehab Center in Bristol Township, just as a utility crew had been on site looking for a gas leak, although the cause of the explosion was unclear several hours later, as was the extent of the casualties.

    A plume of black smoke rose from the nursing home, as emergency responders, fire trucks and ambulances from across the region rushed there, joined by earthmoving equipment.

    Police Lt. Sean Cosgrove said he didn’t know if anyone was missing, and that residents had been evacuated by emergency responders, bystanders and staff.

    “A lot of the details at this point are still unknown,” he told reporters at the scene.

    Bucks County emergency management officials said they received the report of an explosion at approximately 2:17 p.m. and said a portion of the building was reported to have collapsed. Ruth Miller, a Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency spokesperson, said her agency had been informed that people were trapped inside.

    Willie Tye, who lives about a block away, said he was sitting at home watching a basketball game on TV when he heard a “loud kaboom.”

    “I thought an airplane or something came and fell on my house,” Tye said.

    He got up to go look and saw “fire everywhere” and people escaping the building. The explosion looked like it happened in the kitchen area of the nursing home, he said. Tye said some of the people who live or work there didn’t make it out.

    “Just got to keep praying for them,” Tye said.

    The cause of the explosion was unclear.

    The local gas utility, PECO, said its crews had responded to reports of a gas odor at the nursing home shortly after 2 p.m.

    “While crews were on site, an explosion occurred at the facility. PECO crews shut off natural gas and electric service to the facility to ensure the safety of first responders and local residents,” the utility said in a statement.

    Nils Hagen-Frederiksen, press secretary at the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, said investigators from the safety division were headed to the scene.

    Hagen-Frederiksen said first responders and emergency management officials were describing it as a gas explosion, but that won’t be confirmed until his agency can examine the scene up close.

    Musuline Watson, who said she was a certified nursing assistant the facility, told WPVI-TV that over the weekend, she and others there smelled gas, but “there was no heat in the room, so we didn’t take it to be anything.”

    The nursing home is about 20 miles northeast of Philadelphia. Its owner, Saber Healthcare Group, said it was working with local emergency authorities. The facility had been known until recently as Silver Lake Healthcare Center.

    Jim Morgan, president of the Bristol Township School Board, said district buses would take people from the nursing home to a reunification center at Truman High School. He said officials were working on setting up beds and providing water and other needs to residents.

    “This is just something that is sad for everybody and the families and the workers that are there,” Davis said.

    According to Medicare.gov, the 174-bed facility underwent a standard fire safety inspection in September 2024, during which no citations were issued. But Medicare’s overall rating of the facility is listed as “much below average,” with poor ratings for health inspections in particular.

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  • 2 dead in nursing home explosion in Bristol, Pennsylvania, others still missing, officials say

    Two people are dead after an explosion at a nursing home in Bristol, Pennsylvania, Tuesday afternoon, and several are still missing, Gov. Josh Shapiro said.

    Officials believe a gas leak led to two explosions and a fire, officials said.

    Twenty-one people were hurt and taken to five area hospitals, according to police.

    According to a PECO spokesperson, crews responded to reports of a gas odor at the nursing home shortly after 2 p.m. 

    “While crews were on site, an explosion occurred at the facility. PECO crews shut off natural gas and electric service to the facility to ensure the safety of first responders and local residents,” the statement reads.

    CBS News Philadelphia


    Part of the building has collapsed. Officials say a reunification site is set up at Truman High School in Levittown.

    Emergency crews are still working to rescue people who may be stuck in the building, Bristol Fire Chief Kevin Dippolito said. They are using sonar and dogs to help with the search, Dippolito said.

    Two people were rescued from the collapsed part of the building, he said. 

    Shapiro praised the work of firefighters and other first responders from around the region who raced to the scene.

    “They were quite literally climbing up ladders, handing individuals in this nursing home to police, who were at times carrying two people on their back to safety,” Shapiro said.

    New owners took over the facility earlier this month, Shapiro said. The state Department of Health visited the home on Dec. 10, and a plan to upgrade the facility was put in place, he added.

    pic.jpg

    CBS News Philadelphia


    Bristol is located about 20 miles northeast of Philadelphia.

    “To the Bristol community: I’ve got your back, and I’ll be with you soon,” Shapiro said earlier in a post on social media.

    This is a developing story and will be updated.

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  • Three hospitalized in explosion near Hayward listed in stable condition

    HAYWARD — Three people who were hospitalized Thursday when a PG&E gas line exploded and caused a three-alarm fire at two homes in the Ashland neighborhood of unincorporated Alameda County remained in stable condition Friday, officials said Friday.

    The explosion happened about 9:38 a.m. in the 800 block of East Lewelling Boulevard as workers from PG&E were in the process of repairing the gas line. An independent construction crew not affiliated with the utility or a utility project accidentally cut the line about 7:30 a.m.

    Rick Hurd

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  • Explosion, fire near Hayward in community of Ashland leaves multiple people injured, buildings destroyed

    A gas explosion and fire near Hayward and Interstate Highway 238 Thursday morning injured multiple people and destroyed or damaged at least three structures, authorities said.

    The incident happened on East Lewelling Boulevard just west of Mission Boulevard and south of Highway 238 in the unincorporated community of Ashland. The area has a mix of commercial and residential structures, including single-family homes.

    The explosion scattered debris across a wide area, landing on adjacent rooftops. At least two of the structures destroyed appeared to be contained on the same lot of 867 E. Lewelling Boulevard, which was listed on Redfin as a four-bedroom, 3,957 square-foot home.

    Pacific Gas and Electric said at 7:35 a.m., it was notified that a third-party construction crew had damaged an underground gas line while digging on Lewelling Boulevard, and it dispatched crews to the scene. According to PG&E, its workers isolated the damaged line and stopped the flow of gas by 9:25 a.m., but gas had been released at multiple locations, and at 9:35 a.m., the explosion happened.

    Security camera video from a neighbor across the street showed construction vehicles in front of the address as a large explosion destroyed much of the main structure. The neighbor told CBS News Bay Area her entire house shook in the blast.

    “It looked like a bomb dropped. It just went,” said Brittany Maldonado. “We thought a truck hit the house or something, but no, the neighbor’s house exploded.”



    Watch: Security camera video of explosion in Ashland on Lewelling Boulevard near Hayward

    04:51

    A spokesperson for Alameda County said Redgwick Construction of Oakland is currently working on a project to improve E. Lewelling Boulevard in the area, and the firm lists the project on its website. Documents from the county indicate the work involves new sidewalks, bikeways, and pavement improvements. 

    CBS News Bay Area has reached out to Redgwick Construction for comment.

    Alameda County Fire Department Deputy Chief Ryan Nishimoto said at least three buildings on two properties were “significantly damaged,” and a third property adjacent to the other properties had minor to major damage on the side where the explosion occurred.

    “Two of the three buildings look like residential structures, the one in the back of one of the properties looks like a workshop with maybe a living quarters on top,” Nishimoto said. 



    Watch: Authorities give update on explosion, fire near Hayward in community of Ashland

    04:36

    Six patients were taken to nearby hospitals, Nishimoto said. CBS News  Bay Area has learned that at least three patients were being treated at Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley with injuries described as serious.

    Eight engines and two ladder trucks responded to the three-alarm fire, said Fire Department spokesperson Cheryl Hurd.

    Alameda County Sheriff’s Sgt. Roberto Morales said deputies were dispatched to evacuate other residents in the area. It was unclear how many residents were evacuated.

    The California Highway Patrol said southbound Highway 238 to East 14th Street and Lewelling Boulevard from Mission to Paradise boulevards were shut down during the firefight and investigation.

    Many neighbors in the area questioned why there wasn’t an evacuation in the two hours before the explosion when PG&E knew gas was leaking.

    Maldonado said she was never notified of a gas leak, and the only reason she knew anything was going on was because she saw a PG&E crew member checking her gas meter at around 8:30 in the morning.

    “And he said that they were turning off the gas because of something with the road crew,” said Maldonado. “So we were, like, okay. So we were even more confused because we were, like, ‘But the gas was off, how did the explosion happen?’”

    PG&E said it does not execute evacuations and leaves that process up to first responders.

    The Alameda County Fire Department said it did not evacuate the neighborhood because when crews came on the scene, PG&E told them they did not need the department’s assistance.

    “PG&E will be conducting an extensive investigation around a potential cause and will support other investigations that may take place,” said spokesperson Tamar Sarkissian.  

    Kelsi Thorud

    contributed to this report.

    Carlos E. Castañeda

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  • WATCH: Fire department demonstrates dangers of frying turkey this Thanksgiving

    WATCH: Fire department demonstrates dangers of frying turkey this Thanksgiving

    My name is William Farhead. I’m the acting division chief of Orange County Fire Rescue. My last name is spelled F *** R H *** T. So we’re here today to talk about safe cooking with turkey fryers. It’s *** common thing there community that people fry their turkeys, but there are *** lot of hazards with it. There’s *** lot of threats with it. So we want to talk about the day and how we can prepare properly that way we can have *** great turkey at the end of the day. So an issue that we see is that people are buying turkeys that are too large for their pots. So the first thing you need to do is make sure you’re buying *** turkey that actually fits the pot you’re going to be frying it in after that. You want to make sure that you are prepared to have the right amount of oil inside of your pot. *** common problem that causes serious fires are people are overfilling their pots, putting *** turkey in, and then the oil runs over. So ahead of time, take your turkey, put it in the pot, and fill it with water and see what water level is to make sure it doesn’t overflow and at least 2 inches below the top of the pot, and then that way you know how much oil you need to put in. You can know the like amount to put. Once you’ve done that, of course, dry off your turkey, dry off your pot because water inside that pot would be devastating when the oil heats up later. When you are ready to cook your turkey, make sure you’re cooking *** thawed turkey. Cooking *** frozen turkey is *** disastrous situation. You’re going to cause *** fire with that. So thaw your turkey ahead of time. If you’re going to be doing it in *** refrigerator, that takes days. It’s roughly 2 days per pound, so make sure you’re prepared in advance. If you’re using soaking in warmer water or using *** microwave, you can do it closer to it, but obviously it changes the way you’re going to cook it. Once you’ve thawed your turkey and it’s ready to go and you’re going to put it in your oil, make sure your oil temperature is 350 degrees. Higher than that is going to cause again another problem where the oil is going to overflow and cause *** fire. So 350 degrees, not too much oil, making sure that your pot is anywhere near the home right there, that is *** bad example. We’re not showing you how to do it properly. We’re showing you what the threat is. By having it close to *** home, if there’s *** fire to occur, your house will catch fire. You need to make sure that your pot is on level ground. Having it on level ground could cause it to sip over once you place the turkey inside. Another issue would be what type of surface are you putting it on. That today is *** wooden surface. We wouldn’t want you to do that if you had it on wood again. If the fire comes over, you’re going to catch the wood on fire. You prefer to have it on level dirt or level concrete at least 10 ft away from your home, and that includes any overhang. You don’t want *** fire to catch an overhang on fire, so make sure that you’re away from any overhangs and away from your structure. So once you have the proper location, the proper preparation of your turkey, including the level of your oil, you’re able to start and when you are. You should, I should add, you should also have *** means of extinguishing *** fire should won’t occur. We have *** fire extinguisher there. You should always have *** fire extinguisher nearby in case you do have *** fire. So now you’re prepared to start. You set your turkey in carefully. You monitor and bring it out. You should be OK. You should not have any issues. Today our demonstration is going to show you how to do it wrong. We’re not going to show you any of the right ways to do it. We’re going to show you the opposite because that is our common problem. This turkey is going to overflow. The pot, the oil is going to run over the sides of the pot. You’re going to see exponential growth of fire because typically people are doing it with *** frozen turkey or *** turkey they haven’t dried off the surface area to, and you’re going to see that water being introduced to the oil which causes an explosive fire. You’ll probably see damage to the siding, which is very common because that heat will melt siding and could catch it on fire. So again, what we are showing today is the improper way. So hopefully people will use that example to take their it’s *** pretty dynamic example to take it away from the building. That’s *** great question. *** garden hose would not be the way to put out *** fire like this. You’re adding water to oil. Water and oil fires do not mix. It is not the correct way to put out *** fire. You should use an ABC fire extinguisher if you can. That’s the dry chemical fire extinguishers. Most homes have those and do it from *** distance if you feel safe. Using *** fire extinguisher is *** band-aid, if you will, to put on fire. If you’re able to and you feel safe and you have *** means of escape, please use your fire extinguisher and try to put the fire out. But I would immediately call 911 because if your extinguisher doesn’t work, you’re delaying the assistance of resources. One of the things I know that we use *** lot of different types of oil that be taken into consideration with our fire prevention. Well, I think everyone should be careful with oil they use. I know there are many different types of oil that are used by people. I do not have *** preference for you, just that the temperature stays 350 degrees and not beyond that. It’s the best recommendation. I didn’t want to have any other questions. I’m glad you. All right, I utility, yup. Just before we light up the turkey, we also have *** representative from Orange County Utilities, Milton Rodriguez, who’s going to speak about how to properly dispose of your oils, fats and greases after you safely fry your turkey. Thank you and good morning. My name is Milton Rodriguez. I’m the environmental supervisor for Orange County Water Reclamation Division. OK. And as we approach this holiday season for Thanksgiving, *** time for family, friends, and celebration, I’d like to remind you about something we often don’t think about. Which is fog. Which stands for fats, oils, and grease. Every year when you safely fry your turkeys, your casseroles, and those rich dishes. People tend to flush all of their leftover grease down their kitchen sinks. And over time This, it might not seem like *** big deal, but this grease cools and after it cools, it hardens inside of your plumbing pipes. And over time sticks to the walls of your sewage pipe and and attract food particles, food waste, and create serious clogs. In fact, The worst time for sewage blockups. Is the day after Thanksgiving. which has been deemed by social media. As #brownFriday. The results can be slow drains. Unpleasant odors and sewage backups. And no one wants to deal with this during the holiday season. So this is some things that you could do to help. Can it, cool it, and trash it. Pour used oil and grease into cans and disposable containers. Let it cool and dispose of it in your garbage cans. Wipe before you wash. Take paper towels, wipe excess grease off your pots and pans before rinsing. If we keep fats, oils in Greece out of our drains. We protect our home Our environment And our community So this Thanksgiving, remember. Don’t pour leftovers down the drain. Save them for the trash. Not your pipes. I’d like to thank you. Have *** blessed holiday. I thought OK, we’re gonna transition to the demonstration now, so I guess we can move these out of the way. Yeah. Take the phone to the side. Thank you, Jerry. I appreciate the uh same. OK, hold on, hold on. Yeah. You ready? Not yet, not yet. OK. We’re good. We’re good. OK. OK, one more time. Yeah Success, yes.

    WATCH: Fire department demonstrates dangers of frying turkey this Thanksgiving

    Updated: 4:11 PM EST Nov 21, 2025

    Editorial Standards ⓘ

    Cooking fires are the primary cause of home fires and associated injuries nationwide, according to the Orange County Fire Rescue Department.On Friday, firefighters conducted a live demonstration showing what happens when a frozen turkey is dropped into overheated or overfilled oil. The oil quickly boiled over and ignited, sending a large fireball into the air.As Thanksgiving approaches, the OCFRD is highlighting the dangers of frying turkeys. Firefighters say they see the same dangerous mistakes every year.“It’s a common thing that people do in the community to fry their turkeys, but there are a lot of hazards and threats,” Acting Division Chief William Farhat said.When a frozen turkey is dropped into an overloaded hot oil fryer, it can cause oil to spill and create a fire risk.This can result in severe burns, property destruction and even explosions if flammable materials are involved, according to the OCFRD.Officials recommend frying a turkey at 350 degrees, ensuring the bird is fully thawed and dried, and never pouring leftover oil down the sink. Improper preparation, especially using a partially frozen turkey, can create an explosive fire reaction.“Typically people are doing it with a frozen turkey or a turkey they haven’t dried out, which causes that explosive fire effect,” Farhat said. This can prevent clogged household pipes and damage to the sewer system.Orange County Utilities officials also attended the event to share guidance on safe disposal of fats, oils and grease to prevent clogged pipes and sewer damage during the holiday season.The demonstration was held at the Orange County Fire Rescue Training Facility.As families prepare for Thanksgiving, OCFRD hopes the dramatic visual serves as a reminder to stay safe and out of the emergency room.

    ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. —

    Cooking fires are the primary cause of home fires and associated injuries nationwide, according to the Orange County Fire Rescue Department.

    On Friday, firefighters conducted a live demonstration showing what happens when a frozen turkey is dropped into overheated or overfilled oil. The oil quickly boiled over and ignited, sending a large fireball into the air.

    As Thanksgiving approaches, the OCFRD is highlighting the dangers of frying turkeys.

    Firefighters say they see the same dangerous mistakes every year.

    “It’s a common thing that people do in the community to fry their turkeys, but there are a lot of hazards and threats,” Acting Division Chief William Farhat said.

    When a frozen turkey is dropped into an overloaded hot oil fryer, it can cause oil to spill and create a fire risk.

    This can result in severe burns, property destruction and even explosions if flammable materials are involved, according to the OCFRD.

    Officials recommend frying a turkey at 350 degrees, ensuring the bird is fully thawed and dried, and never pouring leftover oil down the sink. Improper preparation, especially using a partially frozen turkey, can create an explosive fire reaction.

    “Typically people are doing it with a frozen turkey or a turkey they haven’t dried out, which causes that explosive fire effect,” Farhat said.

    This can prevent clogged household pipes and damage to the sewer system.

    Orange County Utilities officials also attended the event to share guidance on safe disposal of fats, oils and grease to prevent clogged pipes and sewer damage during the holiday season.

    The demonstration was held at the Orange County Fire Rescue Training Facility.

    As families prepare for Thanksgiving, OCFRD hopes the dramatic visual serves as a reminder to stay safe and out of the emergency room.

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  • Explosions at high school mosque in Jakarta, Indonesia during Friday prayers wound dozens of students

    Jakarta, Indonesia — Multiple explosions shook a mosque at a high school during Friday prayers in Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital, injuring at least 54 people, mostly students, police said.

    Witnesses told local television stations that they heard at least two loud blasts around midday, just as the sermon had started at the mosque at SMA 27, a state high school within a navy compound in Jakarta’s northern Kelapa Gading neighborhood. Students and others ran out in panic as gray smoke filled the mosque.

    Most of the victims suffered minor to severe injuries from glass shards. The cause of the blasts was not immediately known but they came from near the mosque’s loudspeaker, according to Jakarta Police Chief Asep Edi Suheri.

    Bomb squad officers stand guard at the entrance of a school in Jakarta, Indonesia, Nov. 7, 2025, after multiple explosions wounded dozens of people during Friday prayers.

    CANDRA/AFP/Getty


    People were rushed to nearby hospitals. Some were soon sent home but 20 students remain in hospital care, three of them with serious injuries, the police chief said.

    Suheri said an anti-bomb squad that was deployed at the scene found toy rifles and a toy gun near the mosque.

    “Police are still investigating the scene to determine the cause of the blasts,” Suheri said, and urged against speculation that the incident was an attack before police investigation is completed.

    “Let the authorities work first,” Suheri said. “We will convey whatever the results are to the public.”

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  • Fiery Kentucky plane crash leaves at least 9 dead, trail of destruction

    Fiery Kentucky plane crash leaves at least 9 dead, trail of destruction

    OUT THE WINDOW. RIGHT NOW, AT 11, A DEADLY PLANE CRASH AND EXPLOSION NEAR THE LOUISVILLE AIRPORT HAS LEFT SEVEN PEOPLE DEAD AND NEARLY A DOZEN INJURED. THERE’S STILL A SHELTER IN PLACE A MILE AROUND THE AIRPORT. TONIGHT. OUR TEAMS HAVE BEEN SPREAD OUT AROUND THE LOUISVILLE AIRPORT ALL NIGHT LONG. THEY’VE HEARD FROM FAMILIES AS WELL AS CITY AND STATE LEADERS, AND THEY WORK OUT WHAT EXACTLY HAPPENED. WE’LL CHECK IN WITH THEM IN JUST A MOMENT. VICKY IS ALSO LIVE AT THE AIRPORT AUTHORITY TONIGHT. AND VICKY, THIS HAS BEEN A HORRIFIC COUPLE OF HOURS IN LOUISVILLE. OH, IT CERTAINLY HAS BEEN. RICK. TRAGIC, HEARTBREAKING NEWS TONIGHT. OUR COMMUNITY MOURNS THE LOSS OF AT LEAST SEVEN PEOPLE AND AT LEAST 11 OTHERS INJURED. ALL OF OUR HEARTS AT WLKY GO OUT TO THE VICTIMS, THEIR LOVED ONES AND FAMILIES. I AM STANDING OUTSIDE THE DEPARTURE AREA HERE AT THE AIRPORT. I RIGHT BEHIND ME IS RUNWAY 17, RIGHT? YOU CAN SEE IT OFF IN THE DISTANCE. THE FLAMES ARE STILL GLOWING OUT THERE. WE’RE WATCHING THE FIRST RESPONDERS. YOU SEE THEIR LIGHTS OUT THERE BEHIND ME. THIS IS WHERE FLIGHT 2976 WAS LEAVING LOUISVILLE. IT WAS DEPARTING FOR HONOLULU. IT’S A UPS FLIGHT. THERE WERE THREE CREW MEMBERS ON BOARD AS THE PLANE STARTED ROLLING DOWN THE RUNWAY. IT APPEARS BY THE VIDEO THAT THE LEFT ENGINE BURST INTO FLAME, WERE SET ON FIRE, AND THEN THE PLANE BURST INTO FLAME. WE WERE TOLD THREE CREW MEMBERS WERE ON BOARD. THE PLANE WAS FULL OF FUEL AND THAT WAS PART OF THE IMPACT. TWO BUSINESSES WERE DIRECTLY HIT. THEY ARE THE KENTUCKY PETROLEUM AND GRADE A AUTO PARTS. THE CRASH, OF COURSE, HAS LEFT MANY PEOPLE HERE WORRIED. THE MAYOR IS. EXCUSE ME, THE MAYOR HAS JUST WALKED UP. WE’RE GOING TO GET HIM ON HERE. MAYOR GREENBERG, IF YOU WOULD COME ON IN NOW, WE WILL TALK TO YOU. YOU UPDATED THE COMMUNITY A LITTLE EARLIER. WHAT IS THE LATEST UPDATE NOW? THE LATEST IS WHAT YOU JUST MENTIONED, VICKY. WITH THE NUMBER OF VICTIMS THAT WE HAVE, I’M GOING TO HEAD RIGHT FROM HERE TO GO TO THE FAMILY REUNIFICATION CENTER TO SPEAK WITH FAMILIES THAT HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THEIR LOVED ONES RIGHT NOW, AND TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY KNOW THAT WE ARE GOING TO SUPPORT THEM IN EVERY WAY POSSIBLE, THAT WE CAN. ANY UPDATE YOU CAN GIVE US ABOUT THOSE FAMILIES ARE THE ARE THE IS IT PACKED? THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE REPORTING THERE. YEAH. I’M GOING TO HOLD OFF ON GIVING NUMBERS OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT UNTIL I GET THERE. OKAY. FIRST RESPONDERS STILL ON THE SCENE. YOU CAN SEE THE LIGHTS BEHIND US. THE THE FIRST RESPONDERS ARE DEFINITELY STILL ON THE SCENE. THE FLAMES HAVE COME DOWN. THE FIRES ARE UNDER CONTROL RIGHT NOW. AND SO THEY’RE GOING TO BE ABLE TO BE ABLE TO START ALL THE SEARCH OPERATIONS THAT THEY WERE NOT ABLE TO DO INITIALLY, JUST BECAUSE OF THE SIZE OF THE FLAME. YOU LOOK AT THE DEBRIS FIELD, YOU SEE SOME OF YOU I’M SURE YOUR VIEWERS HAVE SEEN THOSE OVERHEAD SHOTS. WE’RE FORTUNATE THAT, YOU KNOW, THERE’S NOT EVEN MORE WE KNOW ABOUT. I’M CONCERNED THAT THERE ARE GOING TO BE MORE VICTIMS THAT WE DON’T KNOW ABOUT YET. I DON’T KNOW THAT’S THE CASE, BUT I’M CONCERNED ABOUT THAT, SEEING HOW BIG IT IS. SO WE’LL WE’LL STAND BY AND WE’LL HAVE MORE INFORMATION THROUGH THE NIGHT OR FIRST THING IN THE MORNING. IT’S GOING TO BE A LONG NIGHT, A LONG COUPLE OF DAYS. IT IS. AND YOU KNOW, RIGHT NOW, I HOPE EVERYONE JUST CONTINUES TO KEEP THE FAMILIES OF THE VICTIMS, THE VICTIMS THAT ARE RECOVERING AT U OF L HEALTH. EVERYONE IN THE UPS FAMILY IN THEIR IN THEIR THOUGHTS. AND AS YOU STATED, EVERYONE’S IN OUR HEARTS TONIGHT AND YOU SAID LOUISVILLIANS ARE VERY RESILIENT. WE ARE INDEED. WE WILL GET THROUGH THIS TO SUPPORT ONE ANOTHER. WE KNOW PEOPLE WANT A LOT OF ANSWERS, AND WE’RE GOING TO GET PEOPLE ANSWERS AS QUICK AS WE CAN. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU SO MUCH, MAYOR. APPRECIATE YOU JOINING US AGAIN TONIGHT. YES. THANKS, VICKY. THANK YOU. ALL RIGHT. WE’RE GETTING A LOT OF UPDATES NOW FROM CITY STATE OFFICIALS AND AIRPORT OFFICIALS. NORMAN SEAWRIGHT IS STANDING BY LIVE. HE IS HERE AT THE AIRPORT ALSO. NORMAN, WHAT ARE YOU HEARING FROM AIRPORT OFFICIALS? WELL, RIGHT NOW, VICKY, WE’RE HEARING THAT TWO THINGS RIGHT NOW. WE CAN TELL YOU ABOUT, FIRST UP, THE NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD WILL BE HERE TOMORROW TO START DOING THEIR INVESTIGATIONS. AT THE SAME TIME, OF COURSE, FIREFIGHTERS FROM LOUISVILLE METRO, FROM AROUND THE COUNTY, FROM EVEN OUTSIDE THE COUNTY ARE WORKING ON CONTAINMENT. NOW, YOU MENTIONED AN OIL FARM. THERE ARE TANKS FULL OF OIL AND OTHER SORTS OF LIQUIDS THAT COULD BE FLAMMABLE. AND WHAT WE’VE BEEN TOLD BY THE FIRE CHIEF, BRIAN O’NEILL HERE IS THAT THEY ARE WORKING TO MAKE SURE THAT STAYS CONTAINED. ANYTHING THAT YOU MAY HAVE HEARD EARLIER IN THE DAY, PART OF THAT WAS SOME OF THE RELEASE SAFETY VALVES THAT ARE DESIGNED TO MAKE SURE THAT THOSE TANKS DO NOT RUPTURE. SO THEY ARE KEEPING AN EYE ON THAT. THEY’RE WORKING ON THE HOTSPOTS, AS YOU CAN SEE FROM WHERE VICKY IS RIGHT NOW. AND AT THE SAME TIME, THEY ARE PREPARING FOR THE NTSB TO COME IN AND HOPEFULLY FIND SOME ANSWERS. I’VE BEEN TALKING TO A LOT OF FRIENDS IN THE AVIATION COMMUNITY, AND A LOT OF THEM ARE HEARTBROKEN. THEY THEY’RE JUST DEVASTATED. THIS IS SCARY FOR ANYONE WHO, OF COURSE, LIVES AROUND HERE AND KNOWS ANYBODY IN THIS INDUSTRY. SO IF YOU HAPPEN TO SEE ANY OF THIS DEBRIS LYING ABOUT IN THE AREA. FIRST THINGS FIRST. DON’T TOUCH IT. REPORT IT, DON’T TOUCH IT BECAUSE IT’S NOT SAFE. BUT ALSO DON’T TOUCH IT BECAUSE THE NTSB WILL NEED THAT TO HELP RECREATE THE ACCIDENT. FIGURE OUT EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED. AND THIS IS WHAT WE HEARD, OF COURSE, FROM THE AIRPORT AUTHORITY EARLIER ON TONIGHT IN THEIR BRIEFING, WE ARE ALSO ASKING THE PUBLIC IF THEY WERE TO FIND ANY DEBRIS IN THE AREA TO PLEASE AVOID TOUCHING THIS DEBRIS AND REPORT TO THE REPORT THE DEBRIS AS WELL. THEY CAN TAKE PHOTOGRAPHS TO THE FOLLOWING WEBSITE, WHICH IS LOUISVILLE, KY DOT GOV BACKSLASH EMERGENCY SERVICES. WE ARE ASKING EVERYONE TO PLEASE FOLLOW THE AIRPORT’S X PAGE AT FLY LOUISVILLE FOR ADDITIONAL UPDATES. AND FOR RIGHT NOW, AS WE KNOW, THE AREA OF SHELTER IN PLACE ORDER IS JUST DOWN TO ONE MILE AROUND THE AIRPORT. EVERYWHERE OUTSIDE OF THAT IS DEEMED TO NOT BE AS AT MUCH AT RISK FOR RIGHT NOW. BUT AGAIN, NTSB WILL BE HERE IN THE MORNING. THEY WILL BE EXPECTED TO TALK TO US SOMETIME BEFORE NOON, AS THEY TOLD US IN THIS BRIEFING AS WELL, VICKY, THAT’S WHAT WE’RE HEARING OVER HERE. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU. NORMAN. NOW, GOVERNOR BESHEAR ARRIVED IN LOUISVILLE JUST HOURS AFTER THE CRASH. HE AND OTHER LOCAL LEADERS ARE NOW WORKING TO SUPPORT THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN IMPACTED. DEANDRIA TURNER HEARD FROM THEM TODAY. SHE’S LIVE NOW AT THE BIG FOUR BRIDGE, WHICH IS NOW LIT UP YELLOW FOR UPS DEANDRIA TURNER. VICKY. THAT’S RIGHT. IT’S JUST A SIMPLE GESTURE TO HONOR THOSE SEVEN LIVES THAT HAVE LOST AND ALL THE OTHER PEOPLE WHO WERE FIGHTING FOR THEIR LIVES RIGHT NOW, AND EVEN THE COMMUNITY MEMBERS WHO HAVE LIVES HAVE CHANGED FOREVER BECAUSE THEY HAVE LOST THEIR LOVED ONES. IT’S TO HONOR THOSE AND FIGHT FOR THOSE WHO ARE STILL RECOVERING. AND NOW AGAIN, WE DID SPEAK TO GOVERNOR BESHEAR EARLIER TODAY. THEY TOLD US THE PLANE WAS CARRYING 250,000 GALLONS OF JET FUEL, AND NO HAZARDOUS CARGO WAS ON BOARD. BUT THE LOCATION OF THE CRASH CREATED DANGEROUS CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SEVERAL EXPLOSIONS EARLY ON ON, CREWS SAY THAT THEY’RE STILL IN LIFE SAVING PHASE, WHICH MEANS THEY’RE DOING ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING TO MAKE SURE THAT ALL EVERYONE WHO’S BEEN INJURED AND IMPACTED, THEY’RE KNOCKING ON DOORS TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY GET EVERYONE OUT AND INTO THE HOSPITAL. WE WERE AT THE HOSPITAL EARLIER WHERE THEY WERE AT A CODE YELLOW, WHICH MEANS THEY WERE READY FOR A DISASTER. AND ABOUT A COUPLE OF HOURS AGO THEY WERE OUT OF THAT CODE YELLOW. THEY ARE TREATING 11 PATIENTS AT DIFFERENT U OF L HOSPITAL SYSTEMS. THE NTSB WILL LEAD THIS INVESTIGATION, AND OFFICIALS STRESSED THAT EVERYONE REALLY NEEDS TO COME TOGETHER DURING THIS TIME. AND ALSO THEY TALKED ABOUT JUST HOW LOUISVILLE IS. SO PERSEVERANCE, HOW WE PERSEVERE OVER EVERYTHING. AND WE PERSIST. AND EVEN THROUGH THIS TRAGEDY WILL CONTINUE TO DO SO. CITY OF LOUISVILLE, TO JOIN THEM IN PRAYING FOR THE VICTIMS, THEIR FAMILIES AND OUR FIRST RESPONDERS WHO BRAVELY RUSHED TO THE SCENE TO SAVE PEOPLE AND ARE STILL ACTIVELY WORKING TO PUT THE PUT THE FIRE OUT. OUR HEARTS ARE WITH THOSE AFFECTED BY THIS TRAGIC INCIDENT. THE MAYOR’S OFFICE IS WORKING CLOSELY WITH FIRST RESPONDERS, FEDERAL AUTHORITIES AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT TEAMS TO RESPOND AND SECURE THE AREA. AND VICKY, STATE AND CITY LEADERS ARE ASKING PEOPLE TO PLEASE BE PATIENT AND TO PLEASE HAVE GRACE WITH THEM AS THIS IS AN ONGOING AND EVER CHANGING INVESTIGATION FOR DAYS AND WEEKS AND MAYBE EVEN MONTHS TO COME. FOR NOW, THE BIG FOUR BRIDGE DEANDRIA TURNER WLKY NEWS. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU, ANDREA. OF COURSE, ONCE AGAIN, THE AIRPORT IS CLOSED TONIGHT. IT IS EXPECTED TO OPEN AGAIN TOMORROW. THE COURTS. THE PLANE CRASH HAS AFFECTED MANY FAMILIES AND MANY FLIGHTS OUT OF HERE. JAMIE MAYES IS LIVE HERE ALSO AT THE AIRPORT TONIGHT. JAMIE, ARE THERE STILL PEOPLE INSIDE WAITING FOR FLIGHTS? MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION, PLEASE? CARRYING FIREARMS THROUGH THE TSA. ALL OF THOSE DEPARTING FLIGHTS THAT WERE EXPECTED TO LEAVE OUT OF SDF HAVE BEEN CANCELED. I SPOKE WITH A FEW PASSENGERS EARLIER TODAY WHO TOLD ME THAT THEY WERE EXPECTING TO LEAVE THE AIRPORT TODAY, BUT INSTEAD ARE CHOOSING TO SOME. SOME OF THEM ARE CHOOSING TO SPEND THE NIGHT HERE. YOU CAN SEE A FEW OF THOSE PEOPLE BEHIND ME HERE, JUST SITTING, WAITING, HOPING THAT AT SOME POINT TOMORROW MORNING THEY’LL BE ABLE TO LEAVE OUT OF SDF. EARLIER TODAY, TSA WAS TURNING PASSENGERS AWAY UPSTAIRS AS PEOPLE WERE NOT ABLE TO BOARD THEIR FLIGHTS. WE SPOKE TO PEOPLE WHO CAME IN AS FAR AWAY AS FRANCE, WHO SAID THEY WERE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT NEXT STEPS. MANY PEOPLE TOLD ME THEY DIDN’T MIND WAITING ON THEIR FLIGHTS. GIVEN THE TRAGEDY THAT HAS UNFOLDED THIS EVENING. I FEEL BLESSED THAT IT WAS NOT, YOU KNOW, OUR PLANE, BUT FEEL SO SORRY FOR THESE PEOPLE. AND SDF SAYS ANYONE WHO WAS SCHEDULED TO ARRIVE OR DEPART HERE FROM THE AIRPORT IS ASKED TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY CONTINUE TO CHECK THEIR FLIGHT SCHEDULES. REPORTING LIVE. I’M JAMIE MAYES WLKY NEWS. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU. JAMIE, BACK OUTSIDE HERE AT THE AIRPORT, THERE ARE MORE REPORTERS AND PHOTOGRAPHERS HERE THAN ANYONE ELSE RIGHT NOW. IF YOU ROLLED UP TO THE AIRPORT, AT FIRST GLANCE, YOU’D THINK NOTHING’S GOING ON. BUT JUST AS SOON AS YOU GET OUT OF YOUR CAR, YOU IMMEDIATELY SMELL THE JET FUEL, AND ONCE AGAIN, YOU SEE THOSE HOT SPOTS BURNING IN THE DISTANCE BACK FROM THE RUNWAY, BACK THE CRASH SITE NOW, FIRST RESPONDERS ACROSS THE STATE ARE STILL HERE AT THIS HOUR, AND THEY WILL BE HERE FOR HOURS, TIRELESSLY. A TRAGIC SCENE. BUT RICK, ONCE AGAIN, AS WE’VE SAID MANY, MANY TIMES, LOUISVILLIANS ARE RESILIENT AND WE COME TOGETHER IN TIMES LIKE THESE. CERTAINLY DO. THANK YOU SO MUCH, VICKI. WELL, LMPD HAS SET UP A REUNIFICATION CENTER FOR FAMILIES AT THE LMPD TRAINING FACILITY THAT’S ON TAYLOR BOULEVARD, WLKY’S MADISON ELLIOTT IS THERE FOR US TONIGHT. MADISON. RICK, WE’VE SEEN FAMILIES COMING IN LOOKING FOR HELP TO REUNIFY WITH THEIR LOVED ONES WHO MAY HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN THIS RIGHT NOW. THIS IS WHERE LMPD IS ASKING FAMILIES TO COME VERSUS GOING TO THE HOSPITAL, BECAUSE HOSPITALS RIGHT NOW ARE JUST NOT SET UP TO HANDLE REUNIFICATION DURING THIS TYPE OF EMERGENCY. SO THEY’VE BEEN ENCOURAGING EVERYBODY TO COME HERE. WE JUST SPOKE WITH THE SALVATION ARMY NOT TOO LONG AGO. THEY ARE ONE OF THE MANY PARTNERS THAT ARE HERE TONIGHT TO ASSIST LMPD AND TO ASSIST FAMILIES HERE TO PROVIDE SNACKS, WATER AND REALLY COMFORT DURING THIS VERY TRAGIC TIME AS THEY TRY TO GET ANSWERS ABOUT WHERE THEIR LOVED 1ST MAY BE AND HOW THEY ARE DOING. AND JUST AS THEY ARE WORKING HARD HERE TO HELP FAMILIES, MANY TRAVELERS WE CAUGHT UP WITH WHEN WE WERE AT THE AIRPORT EARLIER AS WELL ARE WORKING TO NOW GET HOME. MANY WERE STRANDED SITTING ON THE TARMAC FOR MANY HOURS AND DID NOT GET OUT OF LOUISVILLE TONIGHT AS ORIGINALLY PLANNED, AND WE SPOKE TO GROUPS FROM BOTH ORLANDO AND BOSTON TONIGHT WHO WERE JUST TRYING TO FIND THEIR WAY HOME, BUT SAY THEY WERE ON THE PLANE WHEN THEY SAW ALL OF THESE FLAMES. THE PASSENGER IN FRONT OF US. YEAH, BECAUSE THEY KEPT ON SAYING, HOLD UP, HOLD UP, HOLD OFF. AND THEN WE SAID, WHAT’S ALL THAT SMOKE? YOU KNOW, AND WE NOTICED THE SMOKE COMING IN THE SKY. WE COULD SEE IT THROUGH OUR WINDOWS OF THE PLANE. AND THEN SOMEONE POSTED IT FROM ANOTHER AIRPLANE ON INSTAGRAM. SO WE SAW IT. IT WAS PRETTY. YEAH, WE SAW IT ONLINE. PEOPLE STARTED CHECKING THEIR PHONES. SO THAT THERE IS A GROUP YOU JUST HEARD THEY WERE TRYING TO GET BACK TO BOSTON TONIGHT, SO THEY’LL BE STAYING HERE ANOTHER NIGHT IN LOUISVILLE. WE’RE NOT SURE WHEN FLIGHTS WILL BE GETTING BACK UP AT THE LOUISVILLE AIRPORT AT THIS POINT. BUT AGAIN, IF YOU HAVE A FAMILY MEMBER OR SOMEBODY THAT YOU ARE TRYING TO GET IN TOUCH WITH, THIS IS THE PLACE LMPD THEIR TRAINING ACADEMY. THIS IS THE REUNIFICATION CENTER WHERE THEY WANT FAMILIES TO COME. AMERICAN RED CROSS WILL BE HERE. VICTIM SERVICES IS HERE AS WELL AS CHAPLAINS ARE HERE TO PROVIDE COMFORT DURING THIS VERY DIFFICULT TIME. FOR NOW, WE’LL SEND IT BACK TO YOU, RICK. ALL RIGHT. THANKS SO MUCH, MADISON. EARLIER THIS EVENING, WE SPOKE TO A UPS EMPLOYEE WHO SAYS THAT SHE WITNESSED THE MOMENT TRAGEDY STRUCK. I GOT A PHONE CALL FROM MY DAD ASKING ME, WAS I OKAY? AND I LITERALLY HAD JUST WALKED IN THE HOUSE FROM WORK. AND I JUST ALL OF MY FAMILY MEMBERS WAS JUST CALLING ME, ASKING ME IF I WAS OKAY. THEY TOLD ME ABOUT IT AND I JUST STARTED CALLING MY. EMPLOYEE EMPLOYEES AND STUFF AND JUST MAKE SURE THEY WAS OKAY AND STUFF. BUT AND THEN THAT’S WHEN I CAME OVER TO, YOU KNOW, SEE WHAT WAS GOING ON. I WAS TOLD FROM MY GROUP THAT IT WAS ONE OF OUR PLANES. I’M SOME SOME ARE SAYING IT’S SPIRIT. I’M NOT FOR SURE. BUT OTHER THAN THAT, I MEAN, I JUST A LITTLE SHAKY BECAUSE I DON’T KNOW HOW TOMORROW’S GOING TO GO. YOU KNOW, YOU GOT TO GO TO WORK TOMORROW. YOU GOT TO THINK ABOUT PLANES FALLING OUT THE SKY, BEING IN THE BUILDING. AND I DON’T KNOW, IT’S A LITTLE SCARY FOR ME AS A RESULT OF THE CRASH, UPS WORLDPORT HAS HALTED ALL OPERATIONS AS FIRST RESPONDERS CONTINUE INVESTIGATING THE CRASH. NEXT DAY. AIR SUPPORT HAS ALSO BEEN CANCELED AND NO EMPLOYEES WILL NEED TO REPORT TO WORK TONIGHT. IN A STATEMENT, THE COMPANY SAID THEY’RE WORKING CLOSELY WITH THE NTSB A

    Fiery Kentucky plane crash leaves at least 9 dead, trail of destruction

    Updated: 8:17 AM EST Nov 5, 2025

    Editorial Standards ⓘ

    A UPS cargo plane crashed and exploded Tuesday while taking off from an airport in Louisville, Kentucky, killing at least nine people and injuring numerous others. At least 16 people are still missing.The plane crashed about 5:15 p.m. as it was departing for Honolulu from Louisville’s Muhammad Ali International Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration said. Video showed flames on the plane’s left wing and a trail of smoke. The plane then lifted slightly off the ground before crashing and exploding in a huge fireball. Video also revealed portions of a building’s shredded roof next to the end of the runway. The death toll had risen to at least nine on Wednesday morning, and four of those killed were not on the plane, officials said.Among 11 people who were hurt, some had “very significant” injuries, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said, adding he expects the death toll to increase. “Anybody who has seen the images, the video, knows how violent this crash is,” he said. Sister station WLKY reports that at least two people are in critical condition and at least eight have non-life-threatening injuries. There are at least two others missing from a nearby auto shop.UPS’s largest package handling facility is located in Louisville, and the company announced on Tuesday night that it had halted package sorting at the center, without specifying when it would resume. The hub employs thousands of workers, has 300 daily flights and sorts more than 400,000 packages an hour.The governor said a business, Kentucky Petroleum Recycling, appeared to be “hit pretty directly,” and a nearby auto parts operation was also affected.Beshear said he didn’t know the status of the three crew members aboard the plane, a McDonnell Douglas MD-11 made in 1991. Because of the long trip, it was fully fueled, leading to the large fire. It spread easily to nearby facilities, like a large recycling center.UPS said the National Transportation Safety Board is in charge of the investigation and will be the primary source of information about the official investigation. WARNING: Video below shows the fiery crash. Viewer discretion advised.A video taken by Leirim Rodríguez shows several massive balls of flames exploding into the sky in a row, followed by large billowing clouds of black smoke. Rodriguez told the AP she and her husband just happened to be in the area at the time of the explosion.Destyn Mitchell said she was working as a host at an Outback restaurant, about a 15-minute drive from the crash, when she heard a “very loud boom.” About 20 people were in the restaurant.”The mood in the restaurant was very shaken up,” Mitchell said. “Everyone is really concerned. People who just sat down to eat got up and left in under 30 minutes and packed up their food because they wanted to hurry up and get home.”The Associated Press contributed to this story.

    LOUISVILLE, Ky. —

    A UPS cargo plane crashed and exploded Tuesday while taking off from an airport in Louisville, Kentucky, killing at least nine people and injuring numerous others. At least 16 people are still missing.

    The plane crashed about 5:15 p.m. as it was departing for Honolulu from Louisville’s Muhammad Ali International Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

    Video showed flames on the plane’s left wing and a trail of smoke. The plane then lifted slightly off the ground before crashing and exploding in a huge fireball. Video also revealed portions of a building’s shredded roof next to the end of the runway.

    The death toll had risen to at least nine on Wednesday morning, and four of those killed were not on the plane, officials said.

    Among 11 people who were hurt, some had “very significant” injuries, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said, adding he expects the death toll to increase.

    “Anybody who has seen the images, the video, knows how violent this crash is,” he said.

    Sister station WLKY reports that at least two people are in critical condition and at least eight have non-life-threatening injuries. There are at least two others missing from a nearby auto shop.

    UPS’s largest package handling facility is located in Louisville, and the company announced on Tuesday night that it had halted package sorting at the center, without specifying when it would resume. The hub employs thousands of workers, has 300 daily flights and sorts more than 400,000 packages an hour.

    The governor said a business, Kentucky Petroleum Recycling, appeared to be “hit pretty directly,” and a nearby auto parts operation was also affected.

    Beshear said he didn’t know the status of the three crew members aboard the plane, a McDonnell Douglas MD-11 made in 1991.

    Because of the long trip, it was fully fueled, leading to the large fire. It spread easily to nearby facilities, like a large recycling center.

    UPS said the National Transportation Safety Board is in charge of the investigation and will be the primary source of information about the official investigation.

    WARNING: Video below shows the fiery crash. Viewer discretion advised.

    A video taken by Leirim Rodríguez shows several massive balls of flames exploding into the sky in a row, followed by large billowing clouds of black smoke. Rodriguez told the AP she and her husband just happened to be in the area at the time of the explosion.

    Destyn Mitchell said she was working as a host at an Outback restaurant, about a 15-minute drive from the crash, when she heard a “very loud boom.” About 20 people were in the restaurant.

    “The mood in the restaurant was very shaken up,” Mitchell said. “Everyone is really concerned. People who just sat down to eat got up and left in under 30 minutes and packed up their food because they wanted to hurry up and get home.”

    The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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  • At least 7 dead in UPS plane crash and explosion at Kentucky airport

    A UPS cargo plane crashed and exploded Tuesday while taking off from an airport in Louisville, Kentucky, killing at least seven people and injuring numerous others.Watch aerial footage of the initial scene in the video player above.The plane crashed about 5:15 p.m. as it was departing for Honolulu from Louisville’s Muhammad Ali International Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration said. Video showed flames on the plane’s left wing and a trail of smoke. The plane then lifted slightly off the ground before crashing and exploding in a huge fireball. Video also revealed portions of a building’s shredded roof next to the end of the runway. The death toll had risen to at least seven Tuesday night, and four of those killed were not on the plane, officials said.Among 11 people who were hurt, some had “very significant” injuries, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said.“Anybody who has seen the images, the video, knows how violent this crash is,” he said. Sister station WLKY reports that at least two people are in critical condition and at least eight have non-life-threatening injuries. There are at least two others missing from a nearby auto shop.The governor said a business, Kentucky Petroleum Recycling, appeared to be “hit pretty directly,” and a nearby auto parts operation was also affected.Beshear said he didn’t know the status of the three crew members aboard the plane, a McDonnell Douglas MD-11 made in 1991. Because of the long trip, it was fully fueled, leading to the large fire. It spread easily to nearby facilities, like a large recycling center.UPS said the National Transportation Safety Board is in charge of the investigation and will be the primary source of information about the official investigation. According to the FAA National Airspace Status System, the Louisville airport will be closed until 7 a.m. ET Wednesday.“We don’t know how long it’s going to take to render that scene safe,” said Louisville Police Chief Paul Humphrey.WARNING: Video below shows the fiery crash. Viewer discretion advised.A video taken by Leirim Rodríguez shows several massive balls of flames exploding into the sky in a row, followed by large billowing clouds of black smoke. Rodriguez told the AP she and her husband just happened to be in the area at the time of the explosion.Destyn Mitchell said she was working as a host at an Outback restaurant, about a 15-minute drive from the crash, when she heard a “very loud boom.” About 20 people were in the restaurant.“The mood in the restaurant was very shaken up,” Mitchell said. “Everyone is really concerned. People who just sat down to eat got up and left in under 30 minutes and packed up their food because they wanted to hurry up and get home.” The Associated Press contributed to this story.

    LOUISVILLE, Ky. —

    A UPS cargo plane crashed and exploded Tuesday while taking off from an airport in Louisville, Kentucky, killing at least seven people and injuring numerous others.

    Watch aerial footage of the initial scene in the video player above.

    The plane crashed about 5:15 p.m. as it was departing for Honolulu from Louisville’s Muhammad Ali International Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

    Video showed flames on the plane’s left wing and a trail of smoke. The plane then lifted slightly off the ground before crashing and exploding in a huge fireball. Video also revealed portions of a building’s shredded roof next to the end of the runway.

    The death toll had risen to at least seven Tuesday night, and four of those killed were not on the plane, officials said.

    Among 11 people who were hurt, some had “very significant” injuries, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said.

    “Anybody who has seen the images, the video, knows how violent this crash is,” he said.

    Sister station WLKY reports that at least two people are in critical condition and at least eight have non-life-threatening injuries. There are at least two others missing from a nearby auto shop.

    The governor said a business, Kentucky Petroleum Recycling, appeared to be “hit pretty directly,” and a nearby auto parts operation was also affected.

    Beshear said he didn’t know the status of the three crew members aboard the plane, a McDonnell Douglas MD-11 made in 1991.

    Because of the long trip, it was fully fueled, leading to the large fire. It spread easily to nearby facilities, like a large recycling center.

    UPS said the National Transportation Safety Board is in charge of the investigation and will be the primary source of information about the official investigation.

    According to the FAA National Airspace Status System, the Louisville airport will be closed until 7 a.m. ET Wednesday.

    “We don’t know how long it’s going to take to render that scene safe,” said Louisville Police Chief Paul Humphrey.

    WARNING: Video below shows the fiery crash. Viewer discretion advised.

    A video taken by Leirim Rodríguez shows several massive balls of flames exploding into the sky in a row, followed by large billowing clouds of black smoke. Rodriguez told the AP she and her husband just happened to be in the area at the time of the explosion.

    Destyn Mitchell said she was working as a host at an Outback restaurant, about a 15-minute drive from the crash, when she heard a “very loud boom.” About 20 people were in the restaurant.

    “The mood in the restaurant was very shaken up,” Mitchell said. “Everyone is really concerned. People who just sat down to eat got up and left in under 30 minutes and packed up their food because they wanted to hurry up and get home.”

    The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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  • 2 Massachusetts men arrested in explosion on Harvard University medical campus

    Two men were arrested in connection with an explosion on Harvard University’s Longwood Medical Campus, federal officials said Tuesday. The explosion happened Saturday just before 3 a.m. on the fourth floor of Harvard’s Goldenson Building, which is on the university’s medical campus.Special agents and officers with the FBI Boston’s Joint Terrorism Task force and Harvard University Police Department arrested the Massachusetts men, who were not identified. A news conference is planned for 1 p.m.There was no structural damage to the building in the aftermath, and all labs and equipment remained fully operational. “It’s a shame that people do things like that,” said Boston police commissioner Michael Cox. “I’m pretty confident we will hold people accountable for that.”University police released photos of two suspects in the explosion, saying that the two were seen running from the building when police arrived at the scene.Cleaning crews were at the site of the explosion on Sunday, ensuring everything was cleared and fully operational. A sweep of the building was done, and no additional devices were found.”I haven’t heard anything like that going on here, so to hear that is wild,” said student Therese Lipscombe. “Big-name people are going to listen. So whatever their motive was, I’m sure they thought people were going to hear about it.””I do feel like this is a safe area. There’s a hospital nearby and a school, and just a lot of people in general,” said Lindsey Birmingham, who works nearby. “So I usually feel safe. I think I do still feel safe, but it definitely raises a lot of questions and alarms.”A person who lives nearby says they heard two explosions about five minutes apart.No one was injured in the incident.There will be an increased police presence at Harvard’s Longwood campus as officials continue to investigate. There is no threat to the public.

    BOSTON —

    Two men were arrested in connection with an explosion on Harvard University’s Longwood Medical Campus, federal officials said Tuesday.

    The explosion happened Saturday just before 3 a.m. on the fourth floor of Harvard’s Goldenson Building, which is on the university’s medical campus.

    Special agents and officers with the FBI Boston’s Joint Terrorism Task force and Harvard University Police Department arrested the Massachusetts men, who were not identified.

    A news conference is planned for 1 p.m.

    There was no structural damage to the building in the aftermath, and all labs and equipment remained fully operational.

    “It’s a shame that people do things like that,” said Boston police commissioner Michael Cox. “I’m pretty confident we will hold people accountable for that.”

    University police released photos of two suspects in the explosion, saying that the two were seen running from the building when police arrived at the scene.

    Hearst OwnedHarvard University

    Cleaning crews were at the site of the explosion on Sunday, ensuring everything was cleared and fully operational. A sweep of the building was done, and no additional devices were found.

    “I haven’t heard anything like that going on here, so to hear that is wild,” said student Therese Lipscombe. “Big-name people are going to listen. So whatever their motive was, I’m sure they thought people were going to hear about it.”

    “I do feel like this is a safe area. There’s a hospital nearby and a school, and just a lot of people in general,” said Lindsey Birmingham, who works nearby. “So I usually feel safe. I think I do still feel safe, but it definitely raises a lot of questions and alarms.”

    A person who lives nearby says they heard two explosions about five minutes apart.

    No one was injured in the incident.

    There will be an increased police presence at Harvard’s Longwood campus as officials continue to investigate. There is no threat to the public.

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  • Investigation underway into suspected intentional explosion at Harvard University medical campus

    Overnight explosion at Harvard University’s medical campus believed to be intentional, police say

    Updated: 12:56 PM PDT Nov 1, 2025

    Editorial Standards ⓘ

    The Harvard University Police Department is investigating what it is calling an intentional explosion inside a building on the medical campus early Saturday morning.Police say the explosion occurred around 2:48 a.m. on the fourth floor of the Goldenson Building at 220 Longwood Ave.There were no reports of any injuries.A responding officer saw two people fleeing the scene and tried stopping them, but was unsuccessful, according to police.Investigators from the Boston Fire Department Arson Unit made an initial assessment that the explosion appeared to be intentional.Boston police officers conducted a sweep of the building to check for additional devices.The Harvard University Police Department is actively investigating the incident, as well as the FBI and other law enforcement agencies. No further information was immediately available.

    The Harvard University Police Department is investigating what it is calling an intentional explosion inside a building on the medical campus early Saturday morning.

    Police say the explosion occurred around 2:48 a.m. on the fourth floor of the Goldenson Building at 220 Longwood Ave.

    There were no reports of any injuries.

    A responding officer saw two people fleeing the scene and tried stopping them, but was unsuccessful, according to police.

    Investigators from the Boston Fire Department Arson Unit made an initial assessment that the explosion appeared to be intentional.

    Boston police officers conducted a sweep of the building to check for additional devices.

    The Harvard University Police Department is actively investigating the incident, as well as the FBI and other law enforcement agencies.

    No further information was immediately available.

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