Gas-Line Fire Kills One in Pennsylvania

A natural-gas explosion rocked a downtown neighborhood overnight, leveling two houses and spawning fires that burned for hours through a row of homes. One person was killed, and at least five others were unaccounted for Thursday.

The victim lived in two-story row house in a downtown residential neighborhood that blew up about 10:45 p.m. Wednesday, police Chief Roger MacClean said. A couple in their 70s lived in the home, but the condition of the body prevented positive identification, fire Chief Robert Scheirer said.

The cause of the explosion was unclear. The blaze was put out early Thursday, delayed by the difficulty of digging through packed layers of snow and ice to a ruptured underground gas line that was feeding the flames, Mr. Scheirer said. About 500 to 600 people who were evacuated were allowed to return home.

Mr. Scheirer predicted eight houses would be lost and another 16 damaged.