MINNEAPOLIS—At least one person was killed and nine others injured on Wednesday after a gas explosion ripped through a Christian private school in Minneapolis, starting a fire and causing a building to collapse, authorities said.
A school employee was missing more than six hours after the 10:20 a.m. CDT blast at Minnehaha Academy, Minneapolis Fire Chief John Fruetel told a news conference, and crews were searching the rubble in the hope of finding that person alive.
“We still consider it a rescue at this point,” Fruetel said, adding that the situation was “precarious” with two floors of unstable debris that could still collapse during the search.
Fruetel declined to identify the person who was killed, but the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported that it was Ruth Berg, a 47-year-old receptionist at the school who was engaged to be married.
Family members told local news channel KARE that John Carlson, an 81-year-old custodian, was still missing and that no one had been able to reach him.
