NBC News reports that the explosion occurred around 5:30 p.m. Tuesday along 3rd Street near Wyoming Avenue, in the city’s Feltonville section. The food truck’s rear left propane tank ignited and the resulting explosion launched the propane tank 50 feet into the backyard of a nearby home. Flames, meanwhile, shot some 200 feet into the air.
“The fireball engulfed the entire truck and crossed the street,” Philadelphia Chief Inspector Scott Small told the Chicago Tribune.
According to Global News a 42-year-old woman and her 17-year-old daughter were working in the truck at the time. They are both in hospital and in critical condition, with burns reportedly covering at least 50 percent of their bodies. Two others suffering from unspecified injuries are also in hospital.
Witnesses of the explosion report a grisly scene, where one woman’s entire back was sprayed with debris while a man sitting on his porch caught fire.
Wyoming Avenue between 3rd and 4th Streets were blocked off for several hours before reopening at 11 p.m. local time Tuesday. The backyard where the propane tank landed is being treated as a crime scene and Philadelphia Police Bomb Squad, East Detective Division and the Philadelphia Fire Marshal’s Office are all investigating what caused the explosion.
