By JUAN MONTES / Wall Street Journal
A powerful gas explosion shattered a maternity and children’s hospital on the western edge of Mexico City on Thursday, killing at least two people and injuring dozens of others, authorities said.
Hundreds of firefighters, police and volunteers scrambled to find survivors trapped under debris after the blast.
An apparent leak in the hose of a tanker truck delivering propane gas to the kitchen area of the hospital caused the explosion, officials said, leveling a large part of the building. At least 70 percent of the hospital was damaged by the blast.
The explosion happened around 7:15 a.m. local time at the hospital operated by the Mexico City government, sending a column of smoke billowing over the area.