Domestic Glance
An explosion at a nursing home just outside Philadelphia collapsed part of the building and has left at least two people dead, and five others unaccounted for. The exact number of those injured and trapped inside has yet to be announced, authorities said.
The electric company Peco said in a statement that crews responded to reports of a gas odor at the site around 2pm. “While crews were on site, an explosion occurred at the facility,” the statement said. “PECO crews shut off natural gas and electric service to the facility to ensure the safety of first responders and local residents.”
A plume of black smoke rose from Silver Lake healthcare center in Bristol Township as emergency responders across the region gathered there.
Police for Upper Makefield Township posted on social media that it was a “mass casualty incident” and warned people to avoid the area in Bristol, about 25 miles (40km) north-east of Philadelphia.
County officials said they received the report of an explosion at approximately 2.17pm and said a portion of the building was reported to have collapsed. Ruth Miller, a Pennsylvania emergency management agency spokesperson, said her agency had been informed that people were trapped inside.
Dollar General, the retail giant that promises “convenience, quality brands and low prices”, has agreed to pay at least $15m to settle claims that it overcharged customers at many of its 20,000 US stores.
After a 137-year struggle, the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina has finally received full federal recognition from the U.S. government.
A former law enforcement officer in Tennessee is suing his county and sheriff after he was jailed for more than a month for posting a meme on Facebook related to the 10 September assassination of the conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Retired NASCAR driver Greg Biffle, his immediate family and others on board a business jet were killed after the plane crashed and burst into flames in western North Carolina on Thursday, Dec. 18, according to the family members of the people on board and NASCAR.
The US government admitted Wednesday that the Federal Aviation Administration and the army played a role in causing the collision in January between an airliner and a Black Hawk helicopter near the nation’s capital, killing 67 people in the deadliest crash on American soil in more than two decades.
