Four children out of five killed in home explosion in Pottstown, police say – CBS Philly

POTTSTOWN, Pa. (CBS) – Four children were among the five people killed in a housing explosion in Pottstown Thursday night. Pottstown police identified the victims as 13-year-old Alana Wood, 12-year-old Jeremiah White, 10-year-old Nehemiah White, 8-year-old Tristan White and 67-year-old Francine White.

Authorities say two others, 44-year-old Eugene White and 32-year-old Kristina Matuzsan, were injured in the blast and are in critical condition.

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Fire officials say they believe the explosion was an “isolated incident” and that there is no major risk to society.

Eight homes were damaged due to the explosion, including two that were completely destroyed.

Crews have been working around the clock on site, as the investigation aims to document the entire area.

The area is treated as a crime scene until they find evidence that says otherwise.

Eyewitness News found some of Jeremiah’s friends walking around the neighborhood.

Drakkar Wright says he used to play outside with him.

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“Me and him ride a lot and he comes into my alley and we play football and basketball,” Wright said.

Wright says he dropped Jeremiah off at his home minutes before the explosion.

“We came around the block and we saw him walk into his house, and when we went down there and were about to turn, we heard a big boom,” Wright said.

Firefighters were first called to Washington Street and Butler Avenue in Pottstown around 8 p.m. Thursday. When they arrived at the scene, they found that a house had exploded, causing a fire with two alarms, and several people needed medical attention.

The Red Cross helps displaced families.

Pottstown schools were closed Friday.

Investigators have not released an official cause of the blast at this time.

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CBS3’s Kerri Corrado contributed to this report.