Gas tanker blows up in Boston

(CNN) -- At least 200 people were evacuated from their homes, including 84 residents of an apartment building for the elderly, after a tanker truck carrying 9,000 gallons of gasoline erupted early Wednesday in a northern Boston suburb.

No serious injuries were reported in the Everett, Massachusetts, blast, but witnesses recounted close calls to a local television station. One man said he narrowly escaped from his car before it exploded.
 
"In consideration of everything that firefighters had to deal with, I think it's a miracle that we haven't seen some serious injuries," Everett Fire Chief David Butler said.
 
The tanker overturned and caught fire at a traffic circle in the town of about 37,000 outside Boston. Officials are investigating whether the driver was speeding, Butler said.
 
"Our major concerns right now are we still have an ongoing fire operation in the family dwellings, and we are still heavily engaged in those operations, and we have some concerns environmentally," Butler said.

Flames from the truck engulfed at least 40 cars and three buildings, two of them houses, fire officials said. The truck was destroyed, but the driver was not seriously injured, the officials said.