ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY: A house explosion in northern New Jersey killed one person and left two severely burned Wednesday, officials said.

Eleven others were taken to hospitals, Elizabeth Mayor Chris Bollwage said.

The blast leveled the two-family duplex on Magnolia Avenue "like a pancake," Bollwage said. Swarms of fire trucks and rescue trucks crammed the street where the explosion occurred, a scant 100 yards from the busy Routes 1 & 9 corridor.

Bollwage said he was "90 percent sure it was a natural gas explosion," but it was unclear what set it off.

The names and ages of the victims have not been released.

Lisset Garcia, who lives about two blocks away, said she was in bed with her daughter when the explosion occurred.

"I heard a loud boom and the house shook a little," Garcia said. "At first, I thought it was a small earthquake or something."

Kayon Pryce, who owns the house next door, said the blast knocked him over.

"I got hit in the face by my TV set," Pryce said. "The explosion actually tossed my bed upward, tossed me out of bed and knocked my phone out of my hand. I'm just happy to be alive."

Price said he heard a woman next door screaming and saw her rescued by firefighters a few minutes later.