An explosion rocked a shopping mall in the city of Plantation, Florida earlier today injuring at least 21 people, according to the latest CNN report. The report indicated that authorities believe the explosion was caused by a gas leak.

Gordon Peters deputy Fire Chief of Plantation has indicated that among the injured was a child but that the injuries were not classified as serious.

Plantation is located west of Fort Lauderdale in the US state of Florida. </s> At least 23 people injured in an explosion at a shopping center in Plantation, Florida on Saturday, July 6, 2019. Early reports say a possible gas leak led to the explosion. </s> A powerful gas explosion caused multiple injuries Saturday at a shopping mall in Florida, firefighters said.

Photos on US outlets showed a large field of debris outside the shopping center in the town of Plantation in south Florida.

The Plantation Fire Department said it was a gas explosion, and it reported "multiple patients." A major avenue running past the mall was shut down. </s> PLANTATION, Fla. - A total of 23 people were injured Saturday during an explosion at a shopping center in Plantation, authorities confirmed.

Plantation Fire Department Deputy Chief Joel Gordon said two people suffered serious injuries in the blast that was reported just before 11:30 a.m. at the Market on University shopping center on South University Drive.

"We have pretty much completed the search for victims," Gordon said. "We believe we have located just about everyone."

Broward Health Medical Center officials confirmed an adult was taken to the hospital as a trauma alert. The hospital also received a pediatric patient, but the child sustained less serious injuries and was not considered a trauma alert. A hospital spokeswoman said both patients are currently listed in fair condition.

Three patients were taken to Plantation General Hospital, but have since been released.

Fourteen patients were taken to Westside Regional Medical Center, a hospital supervisor confirmed. Only one person remains at the hospital in fair condition, and the others have been treated and released.

The remaining victims were treated at the scene.

Cameras on the ground captured several people sitting on the curb waiting to be checked out by paramedics.

"One guy and his best buddy that are walking from the Tropical Smoothie back to the gym and they had big lacerations on their arms," Steven Montgomery, a witness, said. "You know, one guy had a lot of injuries on his leg. So they put tourniquets on him."

"Just a big boom. Lights went out. All the ceiling tiles came down on top of us. Everybody started screaming and there was dust everywhere," witness Carrie Hendrick said. "The whole foundation of the building that we were in just shook, and that is a big building."

Fire departments from Plantation, Davie, Lauderhill, Coral Springs, as well as Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue all responded to the shopping center after the blast. Gas was shut off to all businesses in the area, at which time crews discovered a ruptured gas line.

"It just looks like an apocalypse," one woman said. "It's just crazy what natural gas can do, or just gas in general. I mean, it's flattened a whole strip plaza."

A triage area was set up after the blast and authorities and dogs searched through rubble to make sure there were no other victims.

"A bomb just went off," a man said in a video sent to Local 10 News shortly after the explosion.

The video shows heavy damage to the LA Fitness and nearby buildings at the shopping center.

Windows were shattered and debris was scattered throughout the area and parking lot. Some businesses appeared to be completely destroyed. Residents reported feeling their homes shake from several miles away and some nearby homes had some of their windows blown out.

"It was a shock that came over me," said Braulio Morejon, who was inside the LA Fitness when the blast occurred nearby. "I thought my instinct would have been to run and get out of the building but, stupidly, I took out my phone and started recording, and I didn't realize it until later that I didn't really realize the magnitude of what was going on around me."

One video sent to Local 10 News showed an injured man on the ground near the gym. Witnesses said he had lost a lot of blood.

Video from a Nest camera outside of a Plantation home captured the sound of the explosion.

Multiple people in the area told Local 10 News reporter Roy Ramos that the explosion occurred at the Pizza Fire restaurant, but authorities have not yet confirmed that.

According to the owner of Code Ninjas, which is located next door, the restaurant closed in December and a new tenant was about to move in.

The owner said their business is closed for the holiday weekend so luckily there were no children inside learning how to code.

Pediatric dentist Dr. Amanda Buscemi told Local 10 News that her office, which is also nearby, was destroyed in the blast.

The doctor's office was closed Saturday, and Buscemi found her diploma and that of her associate on the street when she went to check on the building.

"It's just unbelievable," she said. "We just cry and cry, you know? But, at the same time, we're just so grateful that no one's hurt. This is our baby, where we see our babies."

According to Buscemi, her office was forced to evacuate about six months ago due to a gas leak in the area.

"So this isn't the first time we've had this issue with gas," she said.

Just this week on Wednesday, Plantation Fire Rescue confirmed businesses were evacuated after the smell of gas was reported at 214 S. University Drive.

All businesses in the area have been evacuated after Saturday's incident.

Authorities said University Drive is shut down from Broward Boulevard to Peters Road, while Peters Road is shut down from University Drive to Southwest 78th Avenue.

Plantation police said relatives who are trying to reunite with loved ones are asked to go to Central Park at 9151 NW Second St.

Update: Family and Business Reunification Center will be located at Plantation Central Park 9151 NW 2nd Street. Please Do Not approach the area of the debris and attempt to enter the explosion location. — Plantation Police (@PlantationPD) July 6, 2019

The explosion comes 34 years after four people were killed and eight people were injured in a similar blast at a Midas Muffler shop in Davie.

In the September 1985 incident, pipes from a 250-gallon liquid petroleum gas tank buried behind the shop were found leaking in the wreckage after the blast, the Sun-Sentinel reported.

Copyright 2019 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved. </s> Miami:A powerful explosion from a suspected gas leak ripped through a shopping mall in Florida on Saturday, injuring up to 20 people, the fire department said.

Two of those were in serious condition after the blast in the town of Plantation in south Florida.

Photos on US news outlets showed a large field of debris strewn across the parking lot of the Fountains Plaza shopping center, with major damage in particular to an LA Fitness gym.

Between 15 and 20 people were injured, deputy fire chief Joel Gordon told reporters.

His department initially called it a gas explosion and Gordon said ruptured gas lines were found in the debris, but that the cause of the blast has not been confirmed.

No one has been reported missing. "As bad it was, it could have been a lot worse," Gordon said.

A major avenue running past the mall was shut down. Plantation is about 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of Miami. </s> More than 20 people were injured in an explosion at a shopping center in Plantation, Florida, on Saturday afternoon.

The Plantation Fire Department responded to a call of a possible gas explosion at or near the L.A. Fitness on South University Drive at 11:28 a.m., said Battalion Chief Joel Gordon.

Gordon said 21 people were injured, including two who were in serious condition. Officials found wounded people scattered throughout the area, including in the gym.

He added that he believed one child was among the injured but was not one of the two in serious condition.

"At this point, we believe we've accounted for everyone," Gordon said during a press conference Saturday afternoon, noting that officials were doing a secondary search of the collapsed structure next to the gym. "Thank goodness at this point nobody was killed. ... As bad as it is, it could have been a lot worse."

Gordon said responders found ruptured gas lines and an active gas leak when they arrived on scene but have not determined whether that was the cause of the explosion.

The exact origin of the explosion is still under investigation but several units in a strip mall next to the L.A. Fitness, including a closed pizza restaurant, were destroyed, officials said. </s> PLANTATION, Fla. — At least 21 people were injured, including two seriously, after an apparent gas explosion Saturday shattered parts of a shopping mall in the South Florida city of Plantation, authorities said.

Firefighters were carrying out a secondary search of the mall, looking for additional possibly victims, though they believe all had been located, Plantation Fire Deputy Chief Joel Gordon told reporters.

All the injured had been taken to area hospitals for treatment, he said. Among the injured was a child, but the injuries were no classified as serious, Gordon said.

“We’re relieved that considering the debris field and considering how we found the patients and where we found them, the injuries are not as severe as we would’ve thought they would be. So we’re very thankful for that,” Gordon said.

The Plantation Fire Department initially said a gas explosion had occurred, but later said they are still working to confirm the cause.

“We had ruptured gas lines. We did have an active gas leak when we arrived, (but) they were able to secure it,” Battalion Chief Joel Gordon said, referring to the Broward County’s hazardous materials team that initially secured the lines with TECO, a gas utility company.

“At this point, we have not actually confirmed that it was an explosion due to gas,” Gordon said. “We believe that. That’s what it appears to be.”

News footage and social media video showed firefighters arriving at the mall, where windows were blown out of an LA Fitness and the facade of a pizza restaurant appeared to be blown out. A section of the complex appeared to sustain significant damage, with shattered windows and scattered debris.

Gordon told CNN the access road to the mall was covered in debris when firefighters arrived. Gas lines in the mall had to be secured before first responders encountered the injured scattered throughout the complex.

“We also have patients that wandered away and came back again,” he said.

The state fire marshal, other local agencies and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are investigating the cause.

Gordon said there was an active gas leak at the scene when firefighters responded to the report of an explosion at about 11:30 a.m. ET.

The blast appeared to have occurred in a corner of the mall complex where two buildings intersect.

“There is a closed pizza place place right on the corner but we haven’t confirmed it originated there,” he said.

Jesse Walaschek, 41, had just left the mall with with his three children — ages 8, 6 and 4 — were just leaving the area when the explosion occurred.

Walaschek was driving away from the mall’s LA Fitness and pizza restaurant, the area where the explosion occurred, when he says , when he saw the saw the explosion in the rearview mirror.

“It was crazy to see the building leveled,” he told CNN.

Plantation police tweeted: “All stores and businesses in the area of the Fountains Plaza and the Plantation Marketplace plaza near LA Fitness will be shut down until further notice until Fire Personnel can determine that it is safe to return. Please do not come into this area if possible.”

Gordon said a reunification center opened at Plantation Central Park Gymnasium for family members looking for their relatives and for details about businesses affected.

It’s unclear if the mall was open at the time of the explosion. Gordon said the LA Fitness was occupied.

In one social media video posted after the blast, people are seen surveying the aftermath, which included damage to cars and water cascading from an upper floor of a building.

“The whole building blew up,” a man is heard saying in one video.

Residents several miles from the blast reported feeling their homes shake, the station reported. </s> "Gas explosion 800 blk SUD multiple patients," the Plantation Fire volunteer group said on Twitter.

​Plantation Fire Battalion Chief Joel Gordon was cited as saying by the WPLG news channel that at least 20 people were injured, two of them seriously.

​Photos of the site showed a huge chunk of the shopping mall destroyed, with debris lying around in a wide radius.

The explosion shattered windows and damaged nearby buildings. Photos of the site showed a huge chunk of the shopping mall destroyed, with debris scattered around in a wide radius.

Police said they were working on what is believed to be a gas explosion. All stores and businesses in the area around the blast-ravaged Fountains Plaza were closed. </s> A gas explosion at a South Florida shopping plaza sent debris flying and injured several people, including two with serious injuries, fire officials said.

The explosion happened around 11:30 a.m. Saturday at a shopping center in Plantation, west of Fort Lauderdale in Broward County. The blast sent large pieces of debris about 100 yards across the street.

Plantation Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Joel Gordon told reporters between 15 to 20 people were injured, but so far there are no fatalities.

He added that crews found ruptured gas lines among the rubble when they arrived on scene but they can't confirm where the explosion started.

"As bad as it is, it could've been a lot worse," Gordon said.

Gordon said the initial call was for an explosion at or near an LA Fitness location at the shopping plaza.

Photos and videos shared on social media showed heavy damage to an LA Fitness location, with windows blown out and debris scattered throughout the parking lot.

A worker at a restaurant about 150 yards away described it like something "out of a movie."

Aerial video from the scene showed heavy damage to nearby buildings and businesses.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
23 people are injured in a gas explosion at a shopping mall in Plantation, Florida.