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A gas explosion near Kerr Hall Wednesday injured three students, one faculty member, two staff members and a KeySpan employee, said Brylee Maxfield, spokeswoman for the university.
Those hurt by the explosion suffered minor injuries ranging from broken bones to cuts and bruises from shattered glass, and were sent to three area hospitals.
The explosion, which happened at approximately 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, caused significant structural damage to the second floor of Kerr Hall in the faculty lounge, said Scott Salman, spokesman for the Boston Fire Department (BFD).
KeySpan employees were installing a new gas main near the site of the incident, said Carmen Fields, spokeswoman for KeySpan. The incident is still being investigated.
Jacianta Smith, a temporary employee for Chartwells, was working in the second-floor faculty center when she and a colleague smelled gas. Smith said before she heard the explosion, the floor started to rumble and she saw it make a wave motion – diners were knocked from their chairs.
Lt. David Pfeil of the BFD said the explosion buckled the floors, blew out windows and bricks from the rear of Kerr Hall. Damages total $800,000.
The individuals in Kerr Hall at the time of the incident were evacuated.
“I was asleep and it sounded like a bomb,” said Rich McKay, a freshman psychology major who lives on the sixth floor of Kerr Hall. “When I was going down the stairs, there was a lot of smoke on the second floor by the faculty center – it smelled like natural gas and smoke.”
Another resident of Kerr Hall, Steve Yun, a freshman business major, said he was in the shower when he heard the explosion.
“The bathroom shook and the fire alarm went off and I just got out. It was crazy,” Yun said.
More than 60 firefighters, Boston Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and the Boston Police Department responded to the scene.
“There are a number of people lucky to be alive. Seven people were taken to the hospital for various injuries, none of which are life threatening,” said Richard Serino, chief of Boston EMS. Victims were transported to three area hospitals, Pfeil said.
In the faculty center, two award ceremonies were taking place at the time of the incident. In one room, a ceremony was taking place for the Joy and Alfred Viola Undergraduate Award and in another room the Institute of Industrial Engineers Student Award was also being given out to exemplary seniors.
“We were about to give out the scholarship when there was an explosion,” said Joy Viola, namesake of the award. “All of a sudden there was a hole in the wall and glass flew over a professor’s head. The window barely flew over the head of one of the professors. There was a lot of smoke and somebody yelled ‘get out.’ It was frightening and everyone was thinking ‘terrorist attack.'”
Professor Surendra Gupta, who was attending the Institute of Industrial Engineers Student Award ceremony, said after the explosion occurred he was lifted about four or five feet out of his chair and then he and the other attendees sitting at his table hit the floor.
“It felt as if we had gone one floor down, the table actually crashed into pieces,” Gupta said.
He said the windows were blown out and hit several attendees, including cutting the back of Kerri Beiswenger, a senior industrial engineering major. Gupta said Interim Dean of the College of Technological Entrepreneurship, Thomas Cullinane, was also attending the event, and after the explosion, Cullinane felt short of breath. Gupta said Beiswenger and Cullinane were both transported to the hospital.
About an hour after the first explosion, students were permitted back into adjacent Melvin Hall. Within about five minutes, eyewitnesses said, smoke was coming into Melvin Hall. Alarms sounded and students were re-evacuated.
Salman said firefighters on scene discovered there was still fire in the walls from the initial explosion and it was more than they thought. The two-alarm fire extended to the first floor and at around 3:25 p.m., the fire was extinguished.
“I’m never going to forget this,” said Zei-Hong Tzeng, a junior pharmacy major and recipient of The Joy and Alfred Viola Award.
Students living in Kerr Hall will be placed in other residence halls for an unknown amount of time, according to a release from the university. Residents of Kerr Hall will be located to other vacant spots within other residence halls, said Assistant Director of Residence Life Charles Clency.
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