Explosion Rocks Hotel In Downtown Fort Worth, Injuring 21

At least 21 people were injured in an explosion at a hotel in downtown Fort Worth, Texas, on Monday.

Police responded to reports of damage at the year-old Sandman Signature Hotel about 3:30 p.m. local time. Photos show debris strewn across the street and the lower two floors of the renovated building completely blown out.

One person was critically injured and four were listed in serious condition, officials said. One person was initially thought to be missing after the explosion but was later found.

The Fort Worth Fire Department said a gas leak had been detected at the building but it was unclear if it was the cause of the explosion.

“There is a smell of gas here in downtown,” Craig Trojacek, a spokesperson for the fire department, said at a media briefing. “We’re not sure if the smell of gas was caused from the explosion and the fire itself or if that’s what caused the explosion. But that’s what we’re looking at.”

Trojacek added that construction was taking place on a basement-level restaurant.

“Everything fell, the walls, the floor, everything,” Josè Mira, a worker at the restaurant, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “It’s a miracle I’m alive.”

Atmos Energy, the local gas company, was on the scene to investigate the explosion.

The 245-room Sandman Signature Hotel occupies a 20-story building in Fort Worth, the historic W.T. Waggoner Building, that was built about 100 years ago by a rancher and oilman. The hotel opened in March 2023 after more than four years of renovation.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.