A body was found in a Maryland garden-style apartment building a day after an explosion and fire there and investigators are looking into the possibility of a “criminal, intentional act,” officials announced late Thursday.
Montgomery County fire and police officials said a body was found in the rubble by the front of a Potomac Oaks Condominium building in Gaithersburg, news outlets reported.
An explosion ripped through two buildings Wednesday morning, injuring at least 14 people, two of them critically, and destroying or severely damaging nine units, officials said.
Only one man remained hospitalized Thursday, Fire and Rescue Service Chief Scott Goldstein said.
INDIANA HOUSE EXPLOSION INJURES 3, TRACED BACK TO GAS LEAK
The complex, which was built in 1967, is constructed of heavy concrete slabs, which pancaked in the explosion, Goldstein said.
The body was to undergo an autopsy and could be positively identified on Friday, Police Chief Marcus Jones. Crews hadn’t stopped searching for other potential victims, he said. He did not offer details about the cause of the explosion.
“We have some information — again it’s very limited — but we are looking into the possibility of this as a criminal, intentional act,” Police Chief Marcus Jones said. “We don’t know that for sure. We have a lot of work to do.”
