Florida jail explosion kills 2, injures 100

PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) — An apparent gas explosion rocked a jail in the Florida Panhandle late Wednesday, killing two inmates, injuring more than 100 people, and causing the building to partially collapse, according to county officials.

The jail is almost completely destroyed, Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan said at a news conference this morning. Three inmates were unaccounted for, and one corrections officer was seriously injured, he said.

At the blast site this morning, firefighters were entering the building. Pieces of glass and brick were strewn about on the ground. The front of the building appeared bowed out, with cracks throughout. Authorities blocked off roads leading to the jail.

“I ain’t never heard anything like it,” said Rodney Cozine, standing outside his neighboring home, looking at a large gash in the building and piles of debris.

The explosion happened about 11 p.m. CDT at a booking facility at the Escambia County Jail, and as many as 150 inmate and corrections officers were injured, county spokeswoman Kathleen Castro said.

About 600 inmates — 200 men and 400 women — were in the building at the time, Castro said. Those with injuries were taken to hospitals and the uninjured to jails in neighboring counties, officials said. Castro said authorities did not yet know the extent of injuries, but local hospitals said some with minor issues had already been released.

One inmate was pregnant, and she was OK after the blast, Castro said.

The Pensacola area was drenched by rains and severely flooded Wednesday as part of a large storm system making its way across the U.S., and Castro said the building was affected. But she said officials did not yet know whether the flooding and explosion were directly related. The generator was running at the time of the blast, but Castro said officials don’t believe that was related.

Investigators were on the scene. Castro said the fire marshal would ultimately determine the cause.

The names of the two inmates killed in the explosion weren’t immediately released.