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Video: Terrifying Food Truck Explosion Injures 12
By
Nell Casey
Published Jul 2, 2014
Modified Jul 2, 2014
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By
Nell Casey
Published Jul 2, 2014
Modified Jul 2, 2014
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An enormous inferno engulfed a Philadelphia street yesterday when an industrial-sized propane tank exploded on board a food truck. The blast "sent the metal tank flying 50 feet into the backyard of a home as flames shot 200 feet into the air" at Wyoming and 3rd Street, according to NBC Philadelphia. "I heard a loud boom like a bomb," recalled Shaquille Glover. "The propane splashed all the way across the street on a pole. That's why the pole was on fire and people that were walking by got burned. A lady got burned on her back. Another lady got burned on her face. It was just the sounds of the screams. There was a good two minutes of screams before the cops even came."
The blast injured 12 people—though the Philadelphia Daily News says it was 11—including a mother and her teenaged daughter who were on board when the tank ignited. Olga Galdemez and Jaylin Landaverry suffered severe burns over 40% of their bodies; both were admitted to Temple University Hospital in critical condition.
Two other bystanders were still hospitalized as of last night, while others were treated for burns and cuts from flying debris and released. "A girl was walking by from the nail salon and her whole back got sprayed with debris," bystander Nicole Ellis told NBC Philadelpha. "She was screaming all the way up the street, 'I'm on fire! I want my mom! I want my mom!' And then a man sitting on his porch actually got caught with fire as well. It was pretty bad."
A Frites 'n' Meats food truck exploded on the West Side Highway in 2011 after it hit another vehicle; the two-employees on board were treated for non-life threatening burns at the time. The cause of yesterday's explosion is still under investigation.
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