A barn behind a house in Connecticut exploded Wednesday night while police and a SWAT team were negotiating with a man who had taken his wife hostage, leaving at least six officers injured, state police and a town official said.
WTNH News 8 reported that at least four people were injured, including one SWAT officer, and were taken away by ambulance around 8:30 p.m.
North Haven First Selectman Michael Freda said the officers were taken to a hospital, but that none had suffered life-threatening injuries in the explosion at a barn at the home around 8:30 p.m.
WATCH: Fire rages after house explosion in Connecticut
“This started late this afternoon with what was apparently a very violent domestic call,” Freda told WTIC-TV. The police “were trying to coax him … out of the house and really try to calm the situation down. Then things took a turn for the worse with an explosion.”
News 8 reported that police were using a loudspeaker to communicate with a man inside a residence on Quinnipiac Avenue. WFSB News reported a man had barricaded himself in the house.
Pictures from social media show a large fire in the area.
He said that the officers suffered cuts, abrasions and bruises. They were taken to Yale New Haven hospital, but their exact condition and that of the suspect and his wife weren’t immediately known.
Police were heard continuing to try to coax the man out of the house after the explosion.
Residents near the home said on the police department’s Facebook page that they heard the explosion and felt their own homes shake around 8:30 p.m. Additional police rushed to the scene as the fire raged, and sounds of smaller explosions also were heard.
Earlier in the day, North Haven police tweeted about road closures on Quinnipiac Avenue, where the explosion reportedly took place, but didn’t specify why roads were closed.
“I felt my house shake. It felt like a bomb went off in my attic,” David DiMartino, who lives nearby, told the New Haven Register.
Police did not immediately release any details about why they were there, but issued road closures and asked that people to avoid the area.
Firefighters worked to get the blaze under control more than an hour later.
State police said they were assisting North Haven police with the investigation.
North Haven is about 50 kilometres south of Hartford, home to Yale University.
-With files from the Associated Press.