Building May Be Demolished After Blast That Hurt 8
Cause Of Blast Still Unknown; One Woman Sustained Serious Back Injuries

WAUKEGAN, Ill. (CBS) ― An explosion caused a building to collapse and destroyed several businesses in Waukegan Thursday afternoon, and eight people are injured.

Grand Avenue, which was closed after the blast and fire, was reopened Thursday night. Traffic was slow as gawkers stared at the damage.

Even in the dark, a close-up look at the devastation visible from the alley behind the blast sight -- is amazing. It's a wonder anyone survived. But, they did.

The roof caved in and a fire broke out at 1926 Grand Ave. in Waukegan, a shopping plaza home to Tuxedo World, Cleopatra's Unisex Hair Salon, Cellular Concepts and a travel agency. A fifth business is vacant.

"It felt like this huge percussion and boom…and I actually think it moved me to the side," said business owner Gary Podyma.

"It shook your whole body, not just your feet," Rebekah Podyma added.

Elmas Rizvik lives behind the center, and pulled one of the victims out of a store.

"I pulled her out of the back, looked at her husband he was all covered with blood," Rizvik said.

As investigators continue to inspect the scene, business owners across the street who lost windows are replacing them Thursday night.

The block-long building at the center of the blast may have to be demolished:

"We'll start additional demolition -- and search efforts in the morning -- but, we're pretty confident that we got everybody out," said fire Chief Patrick Gallagher.

Two of the victims who were buried in the debris were rescued by firefighters using inflatable airbags to lift the rubble off those victims.

Firefighters believe the explosion and the subsequent fire were caused by a gas leak, though investigators are still trying to determine the precise cause.

When they arrived two people were trapped under debris.

CBS 2's Katie McCall reports firefighters combed through the buildings since the explosion. There was earlier worry that one person was missing and could have been trapped in the rubble.

Five of the injured were taken to Vista Medical Center East in Waukegan. Four of them have been released and one was admitted to the hospital.

Isabel Palomo is being treated at Vista Medical Center East for serious back injuries.

She was inside Cleopatra's hair salon getting her hair washed when the explosion ripped through the building. Her brother-in-law says debris from the collapsing roof fell on top of her.

"She heard a big explosion and when she realized she was laying on the floor with a lot of stuff covering her body and she was scared," David Palomo said. "Everything happened really fast. Now her back is really hurt and she's complaining about a lot of pain."

Three others were treated for injuries on the scene.

The one-story retail building has storefronts separated by single-unit partition walls. Windows of the tuxedo store, hair salon and cell phone store were blown out, possibly by the collapse itself or the precipitator or catalyst that caused it, Kris Habermehl reported from Chopper 2.

Mannequins from the tuxedo store were left strewn about the street.

"There were mannequins all over and they looked like bodies all over the street," said neighboring business owner Jim Davilla.

Collapse rescue personnel were sent in from all over Lake County with thermal imaging equipment.

Peoples Gas crews are on the scene. Spokesperson Bonnie Johsnon said Peoples Gas first received a notification about the incident sometime between noon and 12:30 p.m., but it remains unclear what occurred or whether Peoples Gas lines were involved.

Authorities have closed Grand Avenue between Martin and Lewis avenues.

CBS 2's Kris Habermehl, Katie McCall, Derrick Blakley and Mike Parker, the Lake County News-Sun and the STNG Wire contributed to this report.