Baltimore building explosion injures 23, temporarily traps 2 workers on dangling scaffolding, officials say

Twenty-three people were injured on Wednesday following an explosion that caused a partial roof collapse at a Baltimore high-rise building, officials said.

Twenty-one of the victims were transported to local hospitals, with at least nine in critical condition and one in serious condition, the Baltimore Fire Department tweeted.

The firefighters' union tweeted that the explosion came from the 16th floor of the building, where utility service Baltimore Gas and Electric Company's offices are located. 

BGE said in a statement Wednesday that the explosion was likely caused by the air handling and boiler system, which construction crews were working on.

The explosion also temporarily trapped a window washing crew on dangling scaffolding. The two trapped workers were later rescued through a window, and firefighters continued to search the building into Wednesday afternoon.

"Window washing scaffolding was compromised because of the incident and a window washing crew was pulled to safety by the fire department," BGE said. The building was nearly empty because of the holidays and the coronavirus pandemic.

BGE also said in the statement that the incident was not related to natural gas, which was not on at the time of the explosion.

Contributing: The Associated Press.