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LAWRENCE, Mass. – As federal and state investigators began searching in three Massachusetts cities, thousands of residents were told not to return home on Friday morning after a series of gas and fire explosions.
The figures were overwhelming: 8,500 homes or businesses had been affected by an overpressurised gas pipeline and many of them were to remain empty at the moment, the authorities said. 80 buildings were burned. Some 150 emergency calls from stunned residents reported a smell of gas, a fire or an explosion, and 400 people slept in five hastily opened shelters.
The series of incidents in Lawrence, Andover and North Andover, north of Boston, resulted in one death and more than 20 injuries.
Kurt Schwartz, director of Massachusetts Emergency Management, said the exact cause of the disaster is still unknown, but officials have looked into the possibility that natural gas has become overloaded on thousands of lines to homes and businesses.
"All we can say at this point is that the investigation is in its infancy," he said.
Residents were increasingly frustrated by seeking answers from a local gas company, Columbia Gas of Massachusetts, but the company said little. On Thursday night, the company issued a brief statement: "The Columbia Gas crew are currently responding to reports of several fires in Lawrence. Our thoughts are with everyone affected by today's incident.
Earlier Thursday, Columbia Gas had announced that it was improving natural gas lines in neighborhoods across the state.
On Friday morning, teams of gas workers, firefighters and police went door-to-door shutting off gas in the south of Lawrence, a densely populated area where many Spanish-speaking immigrants live.
The gas company said in a statement that workers should visit more than 8,000 customers to inspect the gas meters.
At a press conference, Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera asked residents in English and Spanish to stay away from the area until further notice and assured undocumented migrants that they were not allowed to leave the area. they had nothing to fear in the shelters installed.
"We do not want people to come back to an apartment that has not been cleaned and has a problem with gas exposure," he said.
[[[[Dozens of homes are burning in Andover and Lawrence, Mass. Gas explosions.]
The case investigation is being conducted by the Federal Administration of Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Safety, which has arrived in Massachusetts with investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board.
According to data from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Authority, there were at least 646 serious gas distribution incidents, which left 221 people dead and nearly a thousand injured. Massachusetts has not suffered a serious incident since 2012, the data show.
Katharine Seelye reported Lawrence, Mass. And Farah Stockman of Cambridge, Mass.
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