Massive Explosion Reported at Texas Hospital

A alleged explosion occurred at the Coryell Memorial Healthcare System hospital in Gatesville, Texas, on Tuesday afternoon, according to local media outlets.

Video and photos of the scene, located at 1507 W Main St, began to surface on Tuesday afternoon as first responders and new crew headed to the scene.

Hospital spokeswoman Carly Latham told KBTX that several injuries have been reported. Of those injuries, one is said to be “serious.” There are currently believed to be no deaths due to the explosion. Gatesville police told KVUE that at least 12 people have been transported to other area hospitals to receive treatment.

KVUE also reports that the explosion possibly occurred in the boiler room of the hospital’s newest wing around 2:15 p.m. local time. The roof has been damaged and part of the building has collapsed due to the explosion.

KBTX reports that the collapse may have possibly trapped some of those inside.

Patients housed near the explosion site are said to have been transported to parts of the hospital campus farther away from the effected area. Some have also been transported to the First United Methodist Church, located at 2600 E Main St in Gatesville.

Photos and video of the scene show first responders arriving as smoke fills the airs an debris lies all around.

“I got hit in the head by a light fixture, but I’m okay,” one witness told KBTX. “There was an electrical generator on the other side of the building and it just blew up and scattered stuff all over the place. … We just got everybody we could out of the building.”

Another witness, local attorney Tanya Place, added, “I was on Levita Road picking up my dogs when I heard this loud noise and by the time I got up to Memorial Drive there were all kinds of police and fire trucks headed that way. … There’s a lot of smoke, a lot of smoke.

No official details on the cause of the explosion have been released.