GAITHERSBURG, Md. — Officials say a body has been pulled from the rubble one day after an explosion at a condo complex in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Police are now looking into the explosion as a criminal investigation.
Fourteen people were injured in the explosion and fire that ripped through the Potomac Oaks Condominium Complex Wednesday morning. All but one of the people injured have been treated and released, MCFRS Chief Scott Goldstein said.
In a press conference Thursday evening, Goldstein said human remains canines alerted crews to a body. Police Chief Marcus Jones added the investigation into the cause of the fire has shifted to a criminal investigation.
Jones said the body has not yet been identified. The body has since been taken to Baltimore and officials hope to make a positive ID on the body by Friday.
"At this point, we have no information to suggest who this individual may or may not be," said Jones.
Police are looking into whether or not the explosion was intentional.
"We don't know that for sure, we have a lot of work to do, we are lacking a lot of other evidence," said Jones.
As of Thursday evening, crews continue to search for anyone who may still be stuck in the rubble of the explosion.
Of the 10 people hospitalized Wednesday - four of whom were children - only one man remains hospitalized Thursday, in stable condition, Goldstein said. The other nine people have been discharged. So far, 12 families (34 people) have checked in with a sheltering task force at Bohrer Park, Goldstein added.
This is the second apartment explosion this year in Montgomery County. Back in March, 14 people were injured in a large explosion and fire at the Friendly Garden Apartments in Silver Spring.
Back in 2016, the Flower Branch Apartments were rocked by a natural gas explosion that killed seven people and injured nearly 70 others.
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