DALLAS — The Dallas County Democratic Party said Thursday that one of its precinct chairs remains missing after an apartment explosion and fire in Oak Cliff that killed three people and injured several others.
The party identified the missing woman as Sylvia Collins, a precinct chair who lived in the apartment building where the explosion occurred.
Dallas Fire-Rescue said the explosion happened around 1:15 p.m. near East 9th Street and North Patton Avenue. Officials confirmed that two women and one child died in the incident, while at least four others were hospitalized.
Fire officials said crews had responded to reports of a gas leak before the explosion occurred. Authorities have not released an official cause of the blast.
The Dallas County Democratic Party described Collins as a longtime community advocate and said it was awaiting more information about her whereabouts.
Images from the scene showed flames engulfing the apartment complex, debris scattered across nearby streets, and damaged windows in surrounding buildings. A utility truck near the site also appeared to have been affected.
Dallas Fire-Rescue upgraded the response to five alarms by midafternoon and deployed more than 100 firefighters to the scene. Crews continued recovery operations Thursday night as displaced residents received temporary hotel accommodations.
