A propane tank exploded inside a food truck in Feltonville on Tuesday, severely burning one woman and injuring at least 11 other people.
Around 5:30 p.m., the tank on the left side rear of the La Parrillada Chapina truck on 3rd Street and Wyoming Avenue ignited and flew about 50 feet into a nearby backyard, according to police. Flames shot about 200 feet in the air, shaking nearby homes and businesses. Officials say 12 people in all were injured.
Of the 12 victims, a 27-year-old woman and a 14-year-old girl are in critical condition. The woman suffered second and third-degree burns to her entire body. Four other victims are in stable condition, while six other people were treated and released. One of the released victims was Latoya Page, who suffered first degree burns to the left side of her body.
"I turned around and saw the fire coming toward me," she said. "I fell, got back up and started running again."
Shaquille Glover, one of the witnesses, told NBC10 what he heard was almost as horrific as what he saw.
"The sounds of the screams," Glover said. "I'll never forget that."
Glover was about to go inside his home on Wyoming when he heard the blast.
"I heard a loud boom like a bomb," Glover said. "So I turned around and this truck just started instantly smoking. The propane splashed all the way across the street on a pole. That's why the pole was on fire and people that were walking by got burned. A lady got burned on her back. Another lady got burned on her face. It was just the sounds of the screams. There was a good two minutes of screams before the cops even came."
Police say a mother and daughter were working inside the truck during the explosion.
"We noticed that somebody was sitting at the table still that was burned, but the smoke was just going past her and getting to us," Glover said. "They said they couldn't touch her because she was burned. Two minutes later, they grabbed her and put her in the ambulance."
Nicole Ellis, who lives in the same home as Glover, told NBC10 she felt her house shake.
"We thought something fell over," Ellis said. "Then all of a sudden we heard screams. We walked outside and the truck was billowing fire."
Ellis claimed she heard from other witnesses that one of the victims was ejected out of the truck from the force of the explosion.
"A girl was walking by from the nail salon and her whole back got sprayed with debris," Ellis said. "She was screaming all the way up the street, 'I'm on fire! I want my mom! I want my mom!' And then a man sitting on his porch actually got caught with fire as well. It was pretty bad."
Ellis then called 911 in a panic.
"I was screaming and yelling on the phone," Ellis said. "I started panicking, because the lady was just sitting there and she was on fire. You could see the fire coming from her body."
SEPTA Police Officers heard the explosion from their building across the street and responded to the scene for help. Responding firefighters were able to control the flames.
Wyoming between 3rd and 4th streets remains blocked off while the backyard where the propane landed is being treated as a crime scene.
The Bomb Squad, east detectives and the Fire Marshal's Office are all investigating to determine the cause of the explosion.
Photo Credit: NBC10.com