Two explosions at a nursing home northeast of Philadelphia killed two people and hospitalized at least five others, officials said Tuesday. Multiple people were unaccounted for, they said, cautioning that the numbers were still “in flux.”
The explosions at the Bristol Health and Rehab Center in Bristol Township, Pa., also known as Silver Lake Nursing Home, resulted in a large fire and caused the building to collapse, Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and other officials said at a news conference Tuesday evening. It was not immediately clear how many people were injured from the blast.
“We’re still in rescue mode. We have not transitioned into a recovery mode,” said Kevin Dippolito, the Bristol Township Fire Department chief. He added that it was difficult to determine the exact toll of the injured at the moment “because they’ve gone to so many different hospitals.”
Officials also said that there was uncertainty about the number of missing. At one point in the news conference, they said five people were unaccounted for, but they added that it was possible some of the missing may have already been reunited with family members.
The first blast came around 2:15 p.m., and firefighters rescued people stuck in elevator shafts, stairwells and a collapsed basement, Chief Dippolito said. “There was one police officer who literally threw two people over his shoulders and ran with people to help,” he said.
Shortly after the firefighters rescued the people they found, there was a second explosion, the chief said. Heavy machinery, dogs and sonar equipment are being used to continue searching the rubble, he said.
On Tuesday evening, faint smoke still drifted over the site of the blasts and the quiet neighboring blocks of ranch-style homes. Firefighters milled on and around what remained of the nursing home building, while construction equipment idled. Evidence of the rushed evacuation remained in the surrounding area, with a wheelchair abandoned beside a tree in a front yard and hospital beds lined up in a nearby parking lot.
The nursing home, which sits between Philadelphia and Trenton, N.J., is a for-profit operation with 174 beds in a two-story building. It offers both short and long-term care, including hospice, speech therapy and physical therapy, according to its website.
The facility has repeatedly been out of compliance with state and federal health regulations, inspection records show. It came under new management on Dec. 1, Governor Shapiro said, adding that a plan to upgrade the facility’s standards was put in place following a Dec. 10 site visit from the state health department.
Bristol Township issued a local declaration of emergency. The nursing home said in a statement that it was working with officials to determine the cause and severity of the explosion.
St. Mary Medical Center, a hospital in Bucks County, which includes Bristol Township, received five patients from the explosion, said Jason Griffith, a spokesman for Trinity Health Mid-Atlantic, a regional health system. One person was in critical condition, Mr. Griffith said, and three have been discharged.
Shortly after 2 p.m., crews from PECO, an energy company that serves the region, responded to reports of a gas odor at the nursing home, said Greg Smore, director of communications for Exelon, PECO’s parent company.
“While crews were on site, an explosion occurred at the facility,” Mr. Smore said.
The crews then shut off natural gas and electric service to the facility for the safety of emergency services, he added.
Governor Shapiro said that the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency and the Pennsylvania State Police were offering resources.
Writing on social media, Representative Brian Fitzpatrick, Republican of Pennsylvania, asked for prayers for the nursing home’s residents and staff members, as well as “our brave first responders who rushed to the scene and ran toward danger without hesitation.”
Bristol Health and Rehab Center is affiliated with Saber Healthcare Group, which is based in Beechwood, Ohio. When asked about the explosions, the company said that it was not sure of the extent of the damage and that it would continue to work with local agencies.
Alexandra E. Petri contributed reporting.
Chris Hippensteel is a reporter covering breaking news and a member of the 2025-26 Times Fellowship class, a program for journalists early in their careers.
The post At Least 2 Dead in Pennsylvania Nursing Home Blasts appeared first on New York Times.
