STORM2K

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Explosion Shakes Downtown San Francisco

(KCBS) - Office buildings shook in downtown San Francisco shortly before ten o'clock on Friday morning.

Early reports indicated some kind of explosion.

"I heard this enormous bang," Dave Kavedaris, who works downtown, told KCBS. "It shook our building. There's an enormous amount of debris out into the street."

Police and fire crews responded to the explosion.

KCBS reporter Holly Quan at the scene said that several buildings in the area were evacuated, including the Crocker Galleria.

The explosion seemed to affect the Ralph Lauren store at the corner of Kearny and Post.

http://www.kcbs.com/pages/kcbs/news/new ... =Computers

(KCBS) - An explosion shook office buildings near Post and Kearny streets in downtown San Francisco shortly before ten o'clock Friday morning.

San Francisco fire captain Pete Howes told KCBS a man hole cover in front of the Ralph Lauren store at the corner of Post and Kearny appeared to have exploded, although the exact cause of the blast is under investigation.

"We found the front of the Crocker Galleria on that corner had been singed," Howes said. "We've locked the area down."

One person has been taken to the hospital, said Howes, although the extent of the person's injuries was not known.

"I heard this enormous bang," said Dave Kavedaris, who works downtown. "It shook our building. There's an enormous amount of debris out into the street."

Thousands of people were evacuated from office buildings a half block in either direction, said KCBS reporter Tim Ryan at the scene.

The explosion appeared to come from outside the Crocker Galleria.

Explosion injures woman in San Francisco
Blast set clothing store on fire; police evacuate area

BREAKING NEWS
Updated: 2:07 p.m. ET Aug. 19, 2005

SAN FRANCISCO - An explosion in San Francisco's central financial district Friday injured at least one woman, and police closed several city blocks while they searched cause of the blast.

A police spokesman said it may have been an underground explosion. An electrical transformer could have been the cause of the explosion, one official said.

Witnesses reported a large bang shortly before 10 a.m. near Post and Kearny streets in front of a Ralph Lauren store in the central business district.

The blast caused lights in office buildings in the area to flicker. One woman was sent to the hospital with injuries, police officer Jason Hui said.

Officials evacuated buildings in a one block perimeter of the blast and roped off streets leading into the area. Several hundred workers milled around.

Dozens of firefighters and a number of fire trucks rushed the area, as did local utility workers.

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