Two inmates dead, scores injured in Florida prison blast

Two inmates have been killed and between 100 and 150 prisoners and guards injured in a suspected gas explosion at a jail in northern Florida, a county official said.

The blast at about 11 p.m. Wednesday partly leveled the four-story Escambia County Jail's central booking facility, which held roughly 600 inmates, county spokeswoman Kathleen Castro said. No escapees were reported.

"The building is still standing, it's just unstable and partially collapsed," Castro said, describing the incident as an "apparent gas explosion."

"We have reports people heard an explosion and smelled gas. There was no fire," she said, adding that the blast may have been related to severe storms that have hit the Southern United States.

"The facility did receive extensive flooding as a result of the rains yesterday," Castro said.

She said it was unclear how the two inmates died, or how many of the injured were inmates and how many were guards.

A statement on the Escambia County website made no mention of gas, saying only it was an "apparent explosion" after reporting earlier it was "an apparent gas explosion."

The facility holds about 400 men and 200 women. Injured prisoners were being transported to a hospital, with those uninjured being sent to other detention centers in Escambia County and neighboring Santa Rosa County, Castro said.

She described a frenetic scene with officials scrambling to get people out of the building, providing medical care and working to make sure inmates were detained and routed to other facilities. The search and rescue operation was ongoing, though the building had been secured.

Escambia County is located in the northwestern part of Florida.

Reuters