Gas explosion kills utility worker in Montana

COLUMBIA FALLS, Mont. – A Columbia Falls house exploded Thursday as utility workers were trying to fix a natural gas leak, killing one of the workers, leveling the home and scattering glass and debris as far as a quarter-mile away, authorities said.

The four workers were responding to reports of a gas leak after an electricity pole was installed earlier in the day, Columbia Falls police Chief David Perry told the Associated Press.

Two of the workers were digging up the street in front of the home when the explosion occurred inside the house, he said. It was not immediately clear what set it off.

One of the workers was killed and another who was operating a backhoe suffered minor injuries for which he did not need treatment, Perry said.