Fort Worth: At least 21 injured after suspected gas explosion at Texas hotel

At least 21 people have been injured, one critically, after an explosion at a hotel in Fort Worth, Texas.

Large amounts of debris and entire sections of wall were scattered across the road after the blast at the 20-storey Sandman Signature Hotel.

More than 20 rooms were occupied with several people found trapped in the basement, Craig Trojacek, a spokesman for the Fort Worth Fire Department, said.

Of the 21 injured, one is in a critical condition and four were in serious condition, according to authorities.

Authorities believe a gas leak caused the explosion and said a restaurant in the hotel had been undergoing construction, but it was not clear if this was where the blast came from.

“There was a smell of gas in the area and there are windows and things that were blown outside of the structure,” Mr Trojacek said.

“We had reports of people trapped down in the basement, and because of the explosion that took place, some of those access areas were either covered up or it didn’t feel safe at that point to get people down into.”

Footage from news helicopters showed firefighters picking their way through piles of wall, shattered glass and mangled metal while one man appeared to have blood on his forehead while receiving medical assistance, in a video on social media.

Nearby residents reported smelling gas and some of the buildings in the surrounding neighbourhood were later evacuated.

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“There was debris. There was insulation. There was office furniture,” Charlie Collier, 31, said.

“Everything that was in the first couple floors of the building was blown out all over the street.”

According to its website, the hotel is a listed building with 245 rooms. It was built in 1920 as the “Waggoner Building,” named after cattle rancher and oilman William Thomas Waggoner.