December 8, 2004
CBS News
MATHIAS, W.Va. (AP) A natural gas line to an automobile repair shop exploded, leveling the building, shattering windows for miles and sending as many as five people to hospitals.
No deaths were reported. The identities and conditions of the injured were unavailable. Although officials don't know what caused Tuesday morning's explosion, they said a gas line feeding the shop had been leaking.
Part of state Route 259 remained closed early Wednesday, and several hundred residents who live within a one-mile radius of the shop remained evacuated, said Paul Lewis, Hardy County's emergency services director.
Temporary shelters were set up at the northeast community's high school and middle school. Telephone service to the area was knocked out by the blast.
``It was a pretty wicked explosion,'' said Thomas VanMeter, who had finished making a delivery to the auto shop moments before the blast. ``There had been a gun shop upstairs over the garage, and I could hear the bullets going off.''
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