One dead in Baltimore gas explosion

A natural gas explosion destroyed three row houses in Baltimore on Monday, killing a woman and trapping other people in the wreckage.

At least six people were hospitalized as firefighters searched for more survivors.

Dozens of firefighters converged on the piles of rubble.

A fourth house in the row was ripped open, and windows were shattered in nearby homes, leaving the Reisterstown Station neighborhood in northwest Baltimore strewn with debris and glass.

Six people were taken to hospitals, while a woman was pronounced dead at the scene, a fire spokeswoman said.

Rescuers were painstakingly going through the wreckage by hand.

"We're prepared to be here throughout the night and as long as it takes," Baltimore Fire Department spokeswoman Blair Adams said during an afternoon news conference.

"We're trying to make sure that we comb through every area to determine if there are any victims inside," she said.

While the cause wasn't immediately clear, The Baltimore Sun reported last year that dangerous gas leaks have become much more frequent, with nearly two dozen discovered each day on average, according to the utility's reports to federal authorities.

The Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. has thousands of miles of obsolete pipes that need to be replaced, an effort that would cost nearly $1 billion and take two decades, the newspaper said.