Underground Explosion, Fire Rock Downtown Los Angeles High Rise; At Least 5

An electric equipment explosion shook a 19-story office building in downtown Los Angeles, sending two people to the hospital and leaving a dozen surrounding buildings without power Friday.

The explosion occurred at 10:17 p.m.at 811 S. Flower St., Brian Humphrey of the Los Angeles Fire Department said.

LADWP staff were at the scene to assess the damage, which included the pooling of a large volume of water on the building’s first sub-level as a result of ruptured pipes, Humphrey said.

Building inspectors red-tagged the structure because the explosion made its electrical and fire-safety systems inoperable, Humphrey said.

The explosion temporarily knocked out power to the Staples Center during a Shania Twain concert.

Smoke billowed into the street, but a fire that broke out was quickly extinguished as more than 160 firefighters rushed to the scene, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. The department hopes to restore power by the afternoon. The cause is under investigation.

Monetary loss from widespread damage to the building remains under evaluation.

Humphrey says a man and a woman were hospitalized with minor injuries. Four people were injured, according to the LAFD, and two were taken to area hospitals.