CHICAGO - An explosion in a suburban Chicago beauty salon has left at least nine people hurt after it blew out shop windows and caused the roof of a small shopping center to cave in, authorities said.
Dramatic images of the collapsed roof and debris-strewn street were captured by news crew helicopters as rescue workers searched the building for more casualties. Two people were listed as missing, city officials said.
"It appears to be a gas explosion at this time," said Waukegan police Chief Bill Biang.
The explosion was so powerful it blew out the windows of stores across the street.
"I thought maybe a bomb was thrown in the block," said Megdi Hussain, who owns a dollar store across the street.
After the blast blew out the windows of his store at about 12:30 pm (1830 GMT) Hussain went outside and got a shock.
The fronts of the three stores opposite -- the beauty salon, a tuxedo shop and a cellular phone store -- were gone and mannequins were scattered among the debris.
There was no immediate word on the extent of the injuries.
str-mso/rlp
02/28/2008 22:56 GMT