Three people were killed when a house exploded in Evansville, Indiana, on Wednesday in a blast that damaged 39 other homes, officials said.
One person was also taken to a hospital after the explosion just before 1 pm, Evansville Fire Chief Mike Connelly said.
Some of the homes were damaged so severely that they were not safe to enter, and a search for more victims had not yet been finished by Wednesday evening, he said.
The cause of the explosion, which erupted on North Weinbach Avenue, was under investigation, officials said.
The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was also completing a blast analysis, Connelly said.
The identities of the dead and other details were not being released until next of kin are notified, the Vanderburgh County Coroner’s Office said.
Utility company CenterPoint Energy arrived and made the area of the blast safe, and Connelly said that its equipment did not detect any natural gas but that the cause of the explosion was still being determined.
CenterPoint said in a statement that its crews responded to the explosion and that the company is working closely with the fire department, the state fire marshal and other agencies.