Salem, New York - July 14, 2011
Five people have now died from injuries sustained in a deadly home explosion near the Vermont-New York border. Police say one of the victims was a baby girl.
The blast happened Wednesday in Salem, N.Y., just 8 miles west of Rupert, Vt.
Three people were found dead at the scene, surrounded by debris which police say shot hundreds of feet in the air. A fourth victim, Lawrence Berg, 19, died overnight. And police say 2-month-old Niyah Lynn Durham died Thursday morning. Six other people remain hospitalized in Albany, Westchester and Vermont.
Authorities say they still don't know what caused the explosion, but witnesses reported smelling propane shortly before the blast.
"And when I got there the lady was screaming for help, to help her mother and when I was helping her mother, you know, I noticed the baby. I pulled the baby to safety and the baby started to breathe, thank God, you know," witness Joseph Brandmeyer said. "And we just pulled everybody out to safety that we could. There was people laying on the ground, deceased, you know, and whatnot and it's just really, really a tragedy, you know?"
The two-story rental house along Route 29 was obliterated by the explosion.
State police and fire investigators were back at the scene Thursday.
Witnesses said the explosion could be heard for miles.
WCAX News
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