Three women flown to hospital after natural gas explosion destroys Georgia coffee shop
August 22, 2018
National Desk Staff
The Associated Press
HOMERVILLE, Ga. —
Three women have been hospitalized after a natural gas explosion in Georgia left a coffee shop in shambles, according to WALB-TV.
They were seriously injured and flown to Shands Hospital in Gainesville, Florida, after the Friday explosion in Homerville, Georgia, the news station reported. All three were in the coffee shop.
Authorities said natural gas leaking into a sewer line caused an explosion that destroyed the shop.
Glenn Allen, a spokesman for Georgia Insurance, and Safety Fire Commissioner Ralph Hudgens, said late Friday that investigators determined a construction crew installing fiber optic cable in the tiny city of Homerville punctured an underground natural gas line.
Allen said that gas leaked into a sewer line connected to the coffee shop, where the gas built up and was ignited by a spark shortly after noon Friday.