Massive Explosion in Pittsburgh Area Home Kills Man and Woman; Cause Under Investigation

CRESCENT, Pa.—A massive explosion killed two people and destroyed a house in the Pittsburgh area near the Ohio River, authorities said Tuesday. Aerial images from the scene in Crescent Township in the northwest Pittsburgh suburbs showed smoking ruins with the structure reduced to rubble and some large pieces lodged in trees above. Allegheny County emergency dispatchers said the blast was reported shortly before 9 a.m. Tuesday. The blast was “severe, absolutely extreme,” and “You could feel it in your chest,” said Chief Andrew Tomer of the Crescent Township fire department. It was heard and felt throughout Crescent and nearby townships and even across the river. Tomer and others at the fire department immediately saw “a column of white smoke up in the air followed by a thick column of black smoke,” he said....