School Collapse in Minneapolis Leaves 2 Dead
A gas leak at a Minneapolis schools has caused an explosion leaving two staff members dead.
[UPDATE: August 3, 2017 9:00 a.m. CT]
Minneapolis Fire has confirmed that two people have died in the partial school collapse following a gas leak.
Both victims were staff members of the upper Minneapolis school, the first to be found in the rubble was a receptionist, Ruth Berg, who had been with the school for 17 years. The second was an 81-year-old janitor.
[UPDATE: August 2, 2017 12:05 p.m. CT]
Minneapolis Fire Department has confirmed the number of unaccounted people is now down to two people. One person who was previously unaccounted for was found unharmed.
The fire chief was also able to confirm that the gas leak was the result of a severed gas line by contractors employed to work on the building.
The original story is posted below.
Rescues are underway after a school in Minneapolis partially collapsed after a explosion on Wednesday morning.
The explosion happened at Minnehaha's Upper School, according to the school district. The Minneapolis Fire Department was able to confirm that the explosion was a result of a gas leak at the school.
In a series of tweets, the Minneapolis police department confirmed that three people had been rescued from the roof of the school, five people were transported to area hospitals and three people were still unaccounted for at the time of this writing.
Officials believe there were about a dozen students in the gym at the time of the explosion. Those students and staff have been accounted for. There is another group of people who were closer to the explosion at the back of the building, it is from this group of people that police and fire officials believe there are people missing.
Minnehaha Academy posted on their Facebook page to confirm the explosion and give parents a place to pick up their students if they were at the school.
Witnesses from the incident say that officials came over the loud speaker to ask those in the building to leave after smelling gas. It was seconds later that the explosion happened.
This story will be updated with timely information.