Gunpowder linked to San Francisco apartment explosion

By Brigid Gaffikin

May 26, 2007

Gunpowder appears to be behind an explosion in San Francisco's Outer Mission neighborhood yesterday that left one man suffering life-threatening injuries and a building red-tagged, police said.

There is no indication that drug manufacturing contributed to the blast, Sgt. Neville Gittens said.

A preliminary investigation points to "an undetermined amount of gun powder" as the cause, he said.

A man who was in the apartment, at 5315 Mission St., remains hospitalized with life threatening injuries after being burned in the 6:44 a.m. explosion, Gittens said.

A woman treated at St. Luke's Hospital in San Francisco for injuries from the blast has been treated and released, he said.

A third victim was treated at the home but he was not transported.

The apartment is in a multistory building behind a dry cleaning business, according to police.

Officers arriving at the scene "saw the windows of the cleaner's blown out," Gittens said.

The explosion remains under investigation, he said. Gittens said he wasn't sure if any arrests had or would be made.

The neighborhood is a strip of mostly small retail businesses, a police officer at the Ingleside Station said.

Copyright © 2007 by Bay City News, Inc. -- Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.

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