Due to a gas leak, a US mall exploded. and there are at least 21 wounded

At least 21 people were injured in an explosion Saturday at a Plantation shopping center, north of Miami, due to a gas leak, local firefighters said.

The incident was recorded in the Fountains Plaza shopping center and, according to a press conference, the chief supervisor, Joel Gordon, was among the wounded two people who had been "seriously injured".

After the first few hours, there was no information on the possibility of a death or on the origin of the gas leak. "At this moment, there are no deaths, thank you my God, even if it's bad, it could have been much worse," confirmed fire chief Joel Gordon, according to the chain of Local news CBS Miami.

The blast took place near the LA Fitness gym, located inside the mall, and the images collected by the local WPLG channel show the severely damaged structure and broken glbad fragments or ripped from the building, as well as debris scattered in the parking lot.

There was a strong police presence there, from the local agency, from nearby towns, as well as from the Broward County Sheriff's Office, where Plantation, a nearby town of Fort Lauderdale, is located.

The streets were closed to traffic by the plantation police, who cordoned off the area.

"All stores and businesses in the Fountains Plaza and Plantation Marketplace Plaza areas near LA Fitness will remain closed until further notice, until firefighters can determine that it is safe to go home, "reported the police agency on his Twitter account. .

Some neighbors in the region said in the social networks that they heard an explosion, which was followed by a strong shock.

"We felt that the whole building was shaking, the roofs started to collapse, the windows flew," he told the newspaper. Miami Herald Christina J.

The shopping center has more than fifty stores, including restaurants and sports or clothing stores.