Two dead in Indianapolis house explosion

Two people are dead after an explosion ripped through an Indianapolis neighborhood, leveling two homes and damaging at least a dozen more, authorities said. The fire department said the cause of the blast, which was reported just after 11 p.m. Saturday, had yet to be determined, WISH-TV, Indianapolis, reported. Rescue crews cut electricity and gas supplies to the area to prevent subsequent explosions or fires, the Indianapolis Star said. Residents were evacuated and trudged through fields to an emergency shelter in a school. One resident of the Richmond Hill neighborhood, Kurt McDonald, told WISH-TV he went outside and saw one house "just gone." He said the house next door was caved in and people were yelling. "My son, nephew and I went in and got one daughter out [and] got another daughter out. She had a pretty big head wound," McDonald said. "The husband was trapped under a ton of stuff and all kinds of debris, and the wife was stuck in the recliner." Whitney Paflanzer said it was "like a war zone." "And it was dark and dusty, and I thought it was a nightmare -- it was a nightmare," he said.