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One Person Injured In East Chicago Home Explosion

CHICAGO (CBS) -- One person is critically injured in a house explosion in East Chicago.

Investigators are trying to determine how and why it happened.

CBS 2's Jeremy Ross has the story  with the details and the damage.

A neighbor said he was startled around 9:30 Saturday morning, expecting to see some sort of crash scene.

Instead he saw a fire next door.

Firefighters smothered heat and flames from a house explosion on 139th and Evergreen Street.

Water helped to put out hot spots. Neighbors said first responders asked several people in the area to evacuate for a time. They said it was out of caution due to a natural gas explosion.

Firefighters are not confirming that at this time. One man was injured in the blast. Neighbors said he was a worker fixing the property.

The man living next door described the explosion.

"At first I thought a car had crashed into the house," said Eric Glover. "I ran out of the house to see what was going on and I seen flames. I grabbed my daughter and my cousin and called the police."

There is no update on the medical condition on the injured worker.

Firefighters continue their ongoing investigation.

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