21 injured in explosion at hotel in Fort Worth, Texas

At least 21 people were injured after an explosion that caused substantial damage to a hotel in downtown Fort Worth, Texas, on Monday afternoon, police said.

One person was in critical condition, and two were in serious condition, Craig Trojacek, a spokesperson for the Fort Worth Fire Department, said at a news conference. Eight others had minor injuries, he added. Authorities learned about the other injuries later, including one person who went to a hospital on their own.

Earlier, authorities had said that one person was missing, but they noted later that the person had been found.

It was unclear what caused the explosion at the Sandman Signature hotel, which occurred about 3:30 p.m., although Trojacek said there was “a smell of gas in the area.”

Later, the Fort Worth Fire Department said on social media the explosion had “likely” been caused by a gas leak but officials were waiting to confirm that.

Video and images from the scene showed substantial damage to the ground floor of the hotel, a new facility housed in a historic century-old building, and debris littered across the street.

Christian Alvarez, 25, who works at the Pink Cobra, a tattoo parlor two blocks from the hotel, said he felt the shop shake Monday afternoon. Alvarez said he and two other co-workers walked outside and saw smoke pluming down the street.

“It was pretty gnarly,” Alvarez said.

A spokesperson for Atmos Energy, which provides natural gas to North Texas, said the company was looking into the explosion.

“We were getting reports that it had started in the restaurant,” Trojacek said, adding that a restaurant in the hotel was under construction. “We’re not 100% sure that that’s where it actually started at this point.”

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said it was assisting the Fort Worth Police and Fire departments.

Kevin Martinez, a manager at a CVS store nearby, said the windows of the store had reverberated for a couple of seconds after an initial blast. Some of his co-workers assumed the sound was thunder, as a line of storms had moved through earlier in the day, Martinez said.

“I said, ‘No, no it’s not,’ ” he added. “I thought it was a bomb.”

After the shaking stopped, Martinez said, he went outside and saw people running toward the hotel and the smoke.

“To be honest, it was surprising because there wasn’t much panic,” he said. “I thought they’d be running away from it.”

Another CVS employee, Vrisa Verduzco, said she was on her way into work when she saw police cars racing toward Houston Street. Block by block, they erected barricades. It wasn’t long before the dust, smoke and smell of gas were inside her car.

The Fort Worth Fire Department said a reunification area for those looking for loved ones had been set up in a parking lot a few blocks from the hotel.

Tim O’Hare, county judge of Tarrant County, said on social media that he had directed county buildings in downtown Fort Worth to close for the day out of “an abundance of caution.”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement that he was monitoring the situation and that additional resources could be deployed immediately.

“I ask all Texans to pray for those who were injured in the explosion, as well as those bravely responding to keep others safe,” he said.

The hotel occupies one of Fort Worth’s most historically significant buildings. Built in 1920, the 20-story W.T. Waggoner Building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. The register describes it as a “physical manifestation of the crucial role played by Fort Worth in the national oil boom.”

The building housed the offices of several oil exploration firms and a bank over the years, according to the National Register. Its current owner, Northland Properties, purchased the building in 2019. The 245-room Sandman Hotel opened in March 2023, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.