OTTAWA - Officials say 12 people, including two children, were injured in a gas explosion that rocked an east Ottawa suburb, with two of them being pulled out of the rubble.
The two children were among six people taken to hospital following the explosion early Monday in Orleans, Ottawa Paramedic Services said.
Two men had serious injuries, but all in hospital were in stable condition, they said. Other injured people were released at the scene.
The explosion occurred around 6:18 a.m. local time and affected four homes that were under construction, said Ottawa deputy fire chief David Matschke.
Ottawa Fire Services said a chainsaw helped in cutting through a large amount of debris to rescue the first person from the wreckage.
"The individual was stable and talking," the fire service said in a Twitter post.
About three hours after the explosion, the fire service said it rescued a second person trapped inside a collapsed home, "surrounded by a large amount of debris."
The fire service has attributed the explosion to a gas leak.
Amy Bond of the Ottawa Police Service said the force was working with the Ontario Fire Marshal's office to investigate the explosion.
The Red Cross and Salvation Army are also helping, said Orleans South Coun. Catherine Kitts, who called the explosion a "distressing event" for residents.
Mana Karki, who lives nearby, said she took the day off work because she was "still in shock."
Her garage door was destroyed in the blast, and her stairs are cracked.
"It was a big bang. Loud. I was freaking out," Karki said.
Mayank Sharma also heard the explosion, which jolted him awake.
He said he rushed to his children who were crying from "the big bang."
"We couldn't figure out what the issue was. It was like like a bomb explosion, a plane crashed, or someone banged into someone's house," Sharma said.
"We just couldn't figure out what it was until we started hearing things. And we saw a police car on our street, and I think we heard there was a gas leakage."
His friend Divia Furi said the explosion left cracks in her home's ceiling and walls, and damaged her garage door.
As the sun rose, it shed more light on the wreckage, including at least one flattened home. The fire service said the blast destroyed multiple houses that were under construction in the areas of 10th Line and Shallow Pond Place.
Rows of police cars, fire trucks and ambulances had stretched across the road in the early morning, but by noon most of the emergency personnel had left the scene.
Officials had initially warned people to stay away, as they believed gas was still leaking.
