North Carolina gas explosion creates 'war zone' in Durham city as black smoke fills the sky

Firefighter among those seriously hurt

At least one person was killed in the incident (AP)

Residents of a city in North Carolina have talked of confronting conditions like those in a “war zone”, after a major gas explosion killed at least one person and sent flumes of choking black smoke into the sky.

Police said they had blocked the streets in the centre of Durham, where a worker hit a gas line and triggered an explosion that caused a building to partially collapse. One person was killed and at least 15 others were taken to hospital following the incident on Wednesday morning.

“People were sitting at their desks and ceiling tiles were falling,” Jim Rogalski, who works in a Duke University office close to where the explosion happened, told the News & Observer.

“Stuff flew off shelves. You could barely see for 25 feet from all the dust. People were screaming.”

CNN said one witness described the scenes like those from a war zone, as emergency screws scrambled to get people to safety.

“Half the block is destroyed,” Jim Rogalski told the network.

“Lots of injuries. Our office across the street was blown out. It was terrifying. Glass and debris everywhere. No one killed in our office but several injuries – deep cuts, head lacerations.”

A firefighter was seriously hurt in the blast (AP)

The Associated Press said the building that was partly destroyed was occupied by Prescient Co, which said in July 2017 it was moving its headquarters from Arvada, Colorado, and expected to employ about 60 executives, engineering and sales workers in Durham.

It said the company used specialised software to design and build precise materials that allow builders to assemble multi-story apartments and hotels.

A spokesman for the Durham Police Department spokesman, Wil Glenn, who spells his first name with one “l”, confirmed the blast had been caused by contractor boring under a sidewalk who hit a two-inch gas line.

One firefighter was seriously injured, he said.