A second body has been pulled from the rubble of a Minneapolis school following a gas explosion and building collapse, the city’s fire chief said on Wednesday.
Minneapolis Fire Chief John Fruetel declined to identify the second victim, pending notification of next of kin. Nine people were hurt in the blast at about 10:20 a.m. central time.
Crews were called to Minnehaha Academy in Minneapolis, Minn., after part of the building collapsed Wednesday morning. Nine people were rushed to hospital after the explosion, three of which were in critical condition.
According to the Minneapolis Tribune, the first victim was Ruth Berg, a longtime receptionist at the school. The Minnehaha Academy later confirmed this.
“Ruth worked for Minnehaha Academy for 17 years. As our receptionist, she welcomed everyone with a smile and was always willing to go the extra mile to help our students, families, and staff. She will be greatly missed,” officials wrote on the Facebook page.
Earlier on Wednesday, one other was still unaccounted for, and Fruetel still considered it a “rescue mission.”
“It’s just a very precarious situation, it’s very very unstable, there are no signs of (their) obvious location and we know there are probably at least two floors of debris,” Fruetel said at the time. “We still consider it a rescue at this point.”
Later in the evening, the second body was pulled from the rubble, which has yet to be identified.
WATCH: Crews were called to Minnehaha Academy in Minneapolis, Minn., Wednesday morning after part of the building collapsed due to a natural gas explosion.
Fire officials said earlier missing person was a school employee, but didn’t release his or her identity. Minnehaha officials named him as 82-year-old John Carlson who was a janitor at the school.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of John Carlson who is still unaccounted for, those that are injured and their families,” a Facebook post reads.
The gas leak occurred as contractors were working on the building, police said.
Paul Meskan, who lives across the street from the school, said he was pulling weeds when the blast happened, and he ran over to the school. Meskan said he and other people who rushed to help found a man pinned under the rubble.
“We just started digging,” Meskan said, noting that after police and firefighters arrived, “we kept digging, and gas, gas was going. Fire was going.
“And it’s like, ‘we’re not going back until we get this guy out of here.’ And we got him out, and they got him on a stretcher.”
The Star Tribune reported that city records show Master Mechanical Inc. was issued a permit on June 7 for “gas piping and hooking up meter” at the school’s address. Ryan Larsen, a company official, released a statement saying the company was monitoring the situation and referred all questions to the Minneapolis Fire Department.
One other person was previously missing but has since been found uninjured.
WATCH: Two people missing following Minneapolis school explosion
“It would have to be a significant explosion to take out that brick,” police said. “It would be a lot more significant if it was school time. It is a good thing it was summer as it probably the limited the number of people who could have been hurt,” he said.
The school is a Christian private school for students in preschool through Grade 12.
It’s not known how many people were inside the school at the time.
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The school posted On Facebook, saying: “The situation at the Upper School is being managed by Minneapolis emergency personnel. All of our Summer Program students and staff are accounted for and safe. Afternoon camps will continue as planned with the exception of woodworking and drivers ed. Parents may pick up children at the Lower Campus if they do choose, or pick up at the regular time.”
Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton made a statement about the school explosion on Twitter.
WATCH: Minneapolis school explosion witness says blast caused roof to ‘collapse’
*With files from Rebecca Joseph and the Associated Press.
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