FORESTVILLE, Md. -- An explosion at a Forestville strip mall sent nine people to area hospitals last Thursday afternoon.
It all started early Thursday afternoon when employees at neighboring businesses in the Penn Mar shopping center in the 3400 block of Donnell Drive started smelling a gas odor.
"I went outside, I saw that gas was coming out from underground," Mohammed Siddique, who owns a neighboring pizza restaurant.
"Since it was raining, I could see that water was there and it was bubbling."
Prince George's County Fire and Rescue were alerted to the gas leak. "One of the fire officers determined that the odor was stronger than normal that we deal with," according to fire department spokesman Mark Brady.
"At that point, we ordered the immediate evacuation of the stores in the area of the odor and the ventilation of the stores." 45 employees and customers evacuated.
"I saw ambulances and trucks, police told us to get out, so we got out," Meghan Lewis said. They got out just in time.
The huge blast rocked the strip mall, and could be felt up to a mile away.
"The glass blew out of the front of the building, probably about 75 feet, and the entire brick and cinderblock back wall of these six stores is totally gone," Brady said.
Eight firefighters and a gas company employee suffered serious burns and other injuries.
The gas company employee and seven firefighters have been treated and released.
One firefighter remains hospitalized with injuries not believed to be life-threatening.
Firefighters are confident everyone inside the building got out.
A gas company employee was working on a gas line at the time of the blast, Brady said.
Authorities believe a natural gas leak caused the explosion and the explosion originated in an empty store under construction to become a day spa, but that has not been confirmed.
The woman who owns that vacant store tells News 4 contractors have been working inside the building, getting the day spa ready to open this month.
This morning, however, she says they were not at the strip mall.
There is no indication that a pregnancy clinic at the strip mall was a target of the explosion or that the explosion was anything other than an accident. The investigation continues.
Gas company officials say they have not had any recent complaints of anyone smelling gas in the shopping center.
That was a great blowout sale. 
