NATION : 3 Die in Colorado Bank Explosion
The two-story brick Crested Butte State Bank building exploded shortly after opening today, rocking the historic mining town, killing three people and injuring at least a dozen more, authorities said.
Bob Gillen, a spokesman for the Gunnison County emergency response team, said rescuers are searching for more possible victims in the rubble of the building.
“There’s nothing left but the bank vault sitting in the rubble,” said Michelle English-Batchelor, a passer-by. “It just isn’t there. It was a big building. Now it’s just an empty space.”
The cause of the explosion was not immediately known. Officials said there was no natural gas or propane service to the bank, but it was located in an area of town known as “The Bench,” where there are known underground deposits of methane gas left over from old coal mines.
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