'It's really sad': Neighbour describes chaotic scene after Calgary house explosion
Rima Rifai thought her furnace had exploded Monday when the house across the street burst into a ball of fire, sending 10 people to hospital with serious injuries.
When she opened the front door to the street, Rifai saw the home her neighbour has lived in for 20 years was destroyed.
"The whole top of the house was completely blown off and there were all of these people coming out of the house," Rifai said in an interview Tuesday outside her home in the neighbourhood east of downtown.
"There was a gentleman actually right between these two vehicles here. You could tell after the explosion he had made it out first and he was just wandering the streets in absolute shock."
The explosion also damaged several other homes and sent part of the roof of the house that blew up into a yard across the street.
Calgary Emergency Medical Services has said all the victims were adults. Six had life-threatening injuries and four were seriously hurt.
Rifai and her neighbours rushed to help other victims exit the home.
"We brought him over to safety, sat him down in a chair, wrapped him in blankets and it actually got more hectic after that," she said.
"It started with smoke and then flames and it just exploded into a huge fire. As we were trying to get them out one by one. Even one of the neighbours got set on fire actually trying to get them out. It was just surreal."
Rifai said the injuries were severe.
"We were trying to get blankets on them and just comfort them and give them some support. The skin was peeling off of every part of the body that we could actually wrap up," she said.
"I feel thankful that there were no lives taken and at the same time, I am sad for them. It's sad. It's really sad."
A pile of debris including discarded blankets remained on Rifai's lawn. She said fire officials spent the night near the home, watching for hot spots.
A fire insurance investigator and Calgary fire officials were still going through the wreckage Five vehicles were parked nearby. The rear window of a minivan was blown out.
Gar Gar, a leader in Calgary's South Sudanese community, said efforts were being made to provide financial help to those who were injured.
He said it appears all of the victims are from South Sudan. He and some of the victims' family members met at one of the hospitals where the injured were taken.
"I met a son who came to the hospital and went in and saw his dad and you could see the tears in his eyes. That sounds like it's related to something that he saw and the shape his father is in," Gar said.
"There are family members, cousins, uncles and their nephews and nieces. Eventually, those will be the houses that some of them, when they get out of the hospital, might also be hoping to get back in."
Gar said after hearing about the explosion and seeing its aftermath, he can't believe no one died.
"To hear that they're still fighting for their lives and some of them are stable _ that by itself is a miracle and we give thanks for the responders who came in and took them so quick," he said.
Gar said if all 10 victims were living inside the home, he wants to know why.
"We're hoping to rally around those families and the community to come together and to support them where we can."
The cause of the explosion is still under investigation but the Calgary Fire Department said in a statement that it was likely related to a natural gas leak.
"(The CFD) has sent equipment pulled from the home for investigation by a third party. Results from the investigation will not be available for a few weeks," it said in a statement Wednesday.
"The explosion completely destroyed the source home and caused damage to at least eight other homes nearby, as well as vehicles that were parked in proximity to the home."
The incident is not believed to be criminal in nature.
A GoFundMe campaign has also been established to help the victims of the explosion.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Pilot reported fire onboard plane carrying fuel, attempted to return to Fairbanks just before crash
One of the two pilots aboard an airplane carrying fuel reported there was a fire on the airplane shortly before it crashed and burned outside Fairbanks, killing both people on board, a federal aviation official said Wednesday.