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3 Injured, Including Teen, After Gas Explosion Inside South Philadelphia Home

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A gas explosion rocked a South Philly neighborhood and sent three people to the hospital Tuesday evening. The explosion left families without heat on a very cold night. It happened around 6:30 p.m. at 8th and Jackson Streets.

"Three of my relatives are in a hospital right now, but everyone is stable and they are fine," Vannary Kom told CBS3

Kom, smiling and feeling grateful as she told Eyewitness News her family is going to be ok.

"That's all that matters, they are all safe," she said.

Kom grew up in a home on the 800 block of Jackson Street. Now it's just a shell after Tuesday's explosion started a small fire in the basement.

Those injured include a 13-year-old boy, a 40-year-old woman and a 79-year-old man, Kom's grandfather who she said was sitting in the living room at the time of the explosion

"Half of his eyebrow got burned a little bit and his hair, but he's doing fine," she said.

Philadelphia Fire officials said they were called out to this home around 6 p.m. originally for a building collapse, but later confirmed it was a gas explosion.

"The house did shake a little bit," one neighbor said.

"It looked like a car explosion off a movie, like a boom," another neighbor said.

People from six homes had to evacuate, including Julie Reyes.

"We were right next to it," she said. "The police was outside, we just had to get out."

Kom is also happy her family was able to get out.

"Really grateful that all my family members are OK. That's all that really matter to us, the house can go as long as our family are safe, we are happy," she said.

Inspections teams were called to check for potential building collapses, but for now, officials are grateful.

"It could have been a lot worse," Wilkins said. "Gas travels if it reaches an ignition point."

PGW remains on scene and the fire marshal is leading this investigation.

CBS3's Alicia Roberts and Wakisha Bailey contributed to this report.

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