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certainly keeping us and the rest of the area -- the residents around it but for most part down the street where the plant is located is mostly residential -- is mostly a commercial area so i think the residents at least in this immediate area should be safe but there are plenty of firefighters on scene standing by in case there is a flare-up but they certainly have dumped a large amount of water on top of the area that was originally on fire. >> and they still have no idea what caused this. >> reporter: no, not yet. now that the investigation will begin, sheriffs are here and the fire department is on scene and we'll have to wait to see if federal authorities come out to investigate also to see what exactly caused the fire and the multiple explosions. >> a terrifying event there in tavares. as you said, it's almost really a miracle more people weren't injured or even killed. all right, thanks for the very latest.
explosion. it blew the roof off of this plant. >> and, just explosions going on and on and on again. the backyard propane kind of canisters, according to eyewitnesses. pallets and pallets stacked with them. hundreds of them. hundred of them. going off like a shotgun blast many people described. again, tavares is about, a little north of orlando. and we're just told that you can see this for miles away. neighboring towns like mt. dora, people going out by the lake and watching what really looked like a -- a lightning storm with thunder. >> yes. fireballs in the sky. one mile in the sky -- a radius of one mile has been evacuated. people as far as five miles have been able to see it. we will follow the breaking news story and bring you the latest as we get. >> we sure will. all right. natural gas like blamed for a philadelphia house that exploded, injured eight people including two infants. the unoccupied home being remodeled when it collapsed
tavares is a small city north of orlando. northwest of orlando. right now the city administrator for tavares says 24 people were working that nightshift. 15 of those people unaccounted for right now. >> at this moment. what we know right now, five, there are at least six injured we know of. five of them were air lifted to the hospital, nearby hospitals. one taken by ambulance. all with severe burns. that's kind of the -- the injuries that could be expected when something like this happens. there are eyewitness that are saying this sounded like shotguns, fireworks, giant fireballs in the sky. people thought -- you know, people thought somebody ran into their home, banged on their door. it could be seen for miles away when the explosions were happening. >> still happening. i used blue rhino propane, and anybody that's shopped with lowe's, they have a contract with that company. these are all over the country, and presumably this is a factory that manufactures those. a very tense situation.
from chicago to brussels. >> and this is a hit show you cannot watch on conventional or table tv. it's tuesday, july 30th. >> announcer: from abc news, this is "world news now" with john muller and diana perez. good tuesday morning. a busy morning. we'll get right to it. we're beginning with breaking news out of central florida. tremendous series of explosions at a gas plant overnight sending flames and smoke high into the air. >> police in tavares say at least seven of the workers were injured. there were reports that 15 were missing. they were all found. large propane tanks began exploding before 11:00 last night. the force of the blasts blew the roof off this plant and a one-mile radius right now surrounding the scene has been evacuated. a woman living in a nearby town said she could see the flames seven miles away. >> when you first got down to the lake to see it, the sky was completely orange and the clouds were all lit up, and you could hear the explosions just, you know, one after another, and then after it would explode, a fireball would shoot up into the
let's take a listen. we had an opportunity to listen to the fire chief of tavares. >> we don't think that there was any act of sabotage or anything like that. we honestly think it was probably an equipment failure with a combination of maybe human error from one of the staff. >> reporter: john, eight people were injured, some of them were flown to local hospitals. we don't know the extent of their injuries. we also know there were 24 employees inside the plant at the moment of the explosion. the fire chief also said these employees were actively manipulating the cylinders. we had the opportunity to tour the facility and what we saw fortunately no longer in the fire, but we did see piles and piles of canisters of the 53,000 canisters that officials say
let's take a look at the morning papers at 25 past the hour. from our parade of papers, "orlando sentinel," seven people in the hospital after a propane plant explosion in florida. the fire began in the filling area at the blue rhino plant in tavares near orlando. that's where some 53,000 propane cylinders on-site. like the kind you might use on a gas grill at home. emergency responders say there's no longer danger, though flames burned late into the night. >> and the "l.a. times" a great man and a friend of mine for a long time, colonel george day, bud day, a recipient of the medal of honor died saturday at the age of 88. known as bud, he was a cellmate of senator john mccain while a prisoner of war in vietnam. day earned more than 70 medals
we're going to jump right in on this tuesday morning. we begin this half hour with breaking news. a central florida town rocked by one explosion after another. erupting at a gas plant overnight. >> propane tanks turning into fireballs by the hundreds in tavares, shooting flames so high in the air they could be seen miles away. there are at least seven injuries, four critical. 15 workers reported missing have been found. the surrounding area had been evacuated. here's what the sheriff's department told reporters earlier this morning in an interview. >> well, apparently they store the propane cylinders in different parts on the property in different areas of the plant. and as the fire continued to spread, there were more and more explosions, as you said, pretty recently actually. so that just really obviously presented some challenges for the fire personnel to get in and get it contained and under control.
felt for miles. the raging inferno lighting up the night sky just after 11:00 over the blue rhino propane plant in tavares, florida, northwest of orlando. the danger so great, officials forced to evacuate resident as mile away. >> they are just shooting off like missiles. >> reporter: look like propane tanks shooting up into the sky. fires burning out of control just feet away from three large propane tanks. dozens of emergency responders racing to the scene to treat the injured while firefighters fought to put down the flames. plant officials have accounted for the two dozen employees working at the time. at least seven were taken to area hospitals. miraculously, no one died. >> there were propane cylinder s stored in various parts of the property. 53,000 20-pound cylinders. >> reporter: it happened on the heels of a deadly explosion at a
muller and diana perez. all right. we're going to jump right in on this tuesday morning. we begin this half hour with breaking news. a central florida town rocked by one explosion after another. erupting at a gas plant overnight. >> propane tanks turning into fireballs by the hundreds in tavares, shooting flames so high in the air they could be seen miles away. there are at least seven injuries, four critical. 15 workers reported missing have been found. the surrounding area had been evacuated. here's what the sheriff's department told reporters earlier this morning in an interview. >> well, apparently they store the propane cylinders in different parts on the property in different areas of the plant. and as the fire continued to spread, there were more and more explosions, as you said, pretty recently actually. so that just really obviously presented some challenges for the fire personnel to get in and get it contained and under control. at this point we don't feel that anyone else -- no one else
weiner falling fast, new york mayoral candidate caught in the second sexting scandal of his career plummeting in the polls but will anthony weiner drop out of the race? >> remnants of flossie flooding the streets knocking out power we are tracking this storm. welcome back to "early start." i'm michaela pereira. >> i'm john berman. great to see you. 31 minutes after the hour. to our top story now. the flames lighting up the sky near orlando. look at that after a propane tank filling plant exploded. residents say it went on for minutes shaking their homes. at least seven people have been injured. it happened in tavares, florida. john is there and joins us on the phone. bring us up to date. >> reporter: well, michaela, the latest news seems this point the fire is out. the fire crews have been working for the last four hours and continually dumping water on to the plant and the area around it