Explosion At Vacant Hollywood Restaurant Sends Glass Flying
HOLLYWOOD (CBSLA) -- An explosion at a vacant restaurant near Hollywood and Highland rocked a six-story building and sent glass flying Wednesday evening.
Sky9 was over the scene moments after the explosion hit.
Officials believe the explosion was caused by a natural gas line.
No one inside the restaurant was hurt. Although glass flew half way across Highland, no serious injuries were reported.
KCAL9's Tom Wait reported from the scene and spoke to some shaken up by the blast.
Video posted by Max Mars shows the aftermath of the blast. You can see broken glass sprayed across Highland -- just north of the Walk of Fame. LAFD believes the blast originated inside the Tin Horn Flats restaurant.
"I said I'm going to 7-Eleven," said one witness, "And I'll be right back. I'm walking down the street and oh my gosh, it was like BOOM! Like a big bomb exploded and all you see is glass flying. I didn't know the explosion was that big. But then you see it blew out the entire first floor."
Police say a woman was hit by some of the glass and flying debris but not seriously hurt. There is an apartment building above the restaurant. The floor above the Tin Horn Flats was evacuated. Everyone else sheltered in place.
"Right now it's under investigation to determine exactly what had happened," said a LAFD Public Information Officer.
With the explosion sending shards of broken glass and other debris, police had to shutdown a section of Highland creating a traffic nightmare.
"It as a lot of debris," said the witness who heard the boom, "so a lot of the traffic had to be re-directed."
The bomb squad searched the building out of precaution.
