Posted: 1:29 PM Nov 25, 2012

Official: Gas company worker caused Mass. blast
Eds: APNewsNow. Updates with cause of blast. Will be updated. With AP Photos.

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) - The state fire marshal say a gas company worker responding to reports of a gas leak in western Massachusetts punctured a pipe that led to a massive explosion that injured 18 people.

Authorities on Sunday did not name the worker who caused the natural gas blast in Springfield, one of New England's largest cities. Friday's explosion there flattened a strip club, heavily damaged a day care center and scattered debris over several blocks.

Some officials called it a miracle that no one was killed.

Most of the injured were part of a group of gas workers, firefighters and police officers who ducked for cover behind a utility truck just before the blast. Part of the neighborhood already had been evacuated because of reports of a gas leak and odor.

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