A devastating gas explosion tore through a two-story apartment building in the Oak Cliff neighborhood of Dallas on Thursday afternoon, killing at least three people — including a young child — and sending five others to area hospitals. The blast, which occurred at approximately 12:47 p.m. local time, reduced the complex to a smoldering pile of rubble and left dozens of residents suddenly without a home.
Dallas Fire-Rescue confirmed the identities of two of the victims as adult women, with the third being a child whose age has not been officially disclosed. A fifth-alarm response brought more than 120 firefighters to the scene at 409 E. 9th Street, near the Bishop Arts District. Emergency personnel worked through the night and into Friday, sifting through the charred debris in search of additional victims.
“Our hearts go out to the families affected by this unimaginable tragedy,” said Dallas apartment explosion lawyer, Bailey & Galyen.
Witnesses in the surrounding neighborhood described hearing a thunderous boom that shook windows and rattled walls for several blocks in every direction. A towering plume of thick black smoke was visible across much of the Dallas skyline for hours after the initial explosion, drawing alarmed calls from residents as far as several miles away.
The Oak Cliff apartment complex, known as the Clyde — formerly the El Ricardo — sat directly across the street from W.H. Adamson High School. Dallas ISD officials were quick to confirm that no students were on campus at the time of the explosion and that all school personnel were accounted for and safe.
Displaced residents were offered emergency hotel accommodations by the city. The American Red Cross set up a family assistance center at the high school, where social workers and mental health professionals were on hand to provide support. Neighbors and local restaurants in the tight-knit Oak Cliff community organized food donations within hours of the blast.
Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins arrived at the scene Thursday evening and addressed reporters, urging calm while the search for the missing continued. “We have a list of tenants and we are actively working through it,” he said. “We want to make sure we account for every single person before drawing any conclusions.”
As of Friday morning, officials said that between 35 and 40 percent of the debris had been cleared. Heavy machinery was brought in overnight to assist crews in safely moving large sections of the collapsed structure. The investigation into the exact cause of the explosion remains active and ongoing, with both Dallas Fire-Rescue and city officials involved in the inquiry. The full death toll may not be known until the search operation is complete.
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