Florida jail explosion kills 2, injures at least 100
A gas explosion at a jail in Pensacola, Fla., killed at least two prisoners Wednesday night and injured 100 to 150 inmates and corrections officers, officials said.
The explosion happened around 11 p.m. CDT in the Escambia County Jail’s booking facility and caused the building to partially collapse, county spokeswoman Kathleen Castro told the Los Angeles Times.
Castro said the jail did get extensive flooding during heavy rains that drenched the region Tuesday and Wednesday, but that it was unknown if that was a factor in the explosion.
About 600 inmates were in the building at the time, according to the Associated Press. The injured were brought to hospitals and the uninjured inmates were brought to jails in neighboring counties, Castro said.
Spokespeople at Sacred Heart Hospital and West Florida Hospital in Pensacola said the victims treated at those facilities had relatively minor injuries.
Vicki Brooks, a spokeswoman for Sacred Heart Hospital, said the staff there treated 31 patients, most with neck and back injuries.
Spokesman Kendrick Doidge said West Florida Hospital treated 37 inmates in the emergency room and that all were released back into the custody of the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.
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