RAMSEY, Minn. (AP) -- Three women died Tuesday when an explosion leveled a small commercial building, leaving only a pile of concrete chunks, cinderblocks and shreds of office furniture that collapsed into the structure's empty basement.
The body of the third woman was located around 5 p.m. after a daylong search with two backhoes and a crane.
Hours earlier, a critically injured man was pulled from the wreckage with the aid of people who rushed from nearby businesses to help.
A gas leak was ``the most viable option'' as the cause of the explosion, but nothing was immediately ruled out, said Anoka County Sheriff's Capt. Robert Aldrich.
Officials from the state fire marshal's office, the state office of pipeline safety and gas company CenterPoint Energy were on the scene Wednesday morning. The definite cause of the explosion had not been announced.
All four victims worked at the building, which was occupied by Premier Commercial Properties, a real estate business, and also held office space leased by Riverview Community Bank of Otsego, Aldrich said.
Two of the women killed were identified as Ann Kris Talle, 43, of Anoka, and Lois Gale Self, 49, of Elk River, both bank employees.
The name of the third woman, who worked for Premier, was being withheld until she could be positively identified through fingerprints and dental records, Aldrich said.
Workers at surrounding businesses said they heard and felt the blast at about 9:45 a.m. Some of the initial searchers included motorists who were passing through the commercial area on Highway 10.
``They actually heard one of the victims inside,'' Aldrich said. ``They were able to locate him by the sound of his voice and move toward that area.''
That man, Robert Lee Smith, 60, of Coon Rapids, is executive vice president and senior commercial lender for Riverview, suffered second- and third-degree burns and was in critical condition at Hennepin County Medical Center.
The bank, which won national attention this year for its explicitly Christian focus, had set up a temporary loan office in Ramsey to prepare for a new facility in Anoka, Riverview CEO Duane Kropuenske told the Star Tribune of Minneapolis.
Kropuenske called the explosion a tragic accident. ``These are just fine, outstanding people, and it's just a tragedy to lose them,'' he said of the two women who died.
Soon after Smith's rescue, the outlook turned bleak for anyone else who had been in the building when it exploded.
Two women leaving the scene of the wreckage declined to give their names or speak at length to reporters, confirming only that they knew people who had been inside the building. Both were in tears.
Amid the wreckage, a tattered flag flew from a pole in front of the business. Firefighters moved debris by hand before standing aside occasionally for the heavy equipment. Search dogs also were used.
William Larsen, who works at Carquest Auto Parts next door, said he saw a cloud of dust rush by the window as if a semi were passing through.
``My ears are still ringing,'' Larsen said. He said he walked outside about 30 seconds after the blast. Cars on Highway 10 were stopped and rubble and dust were still coming out of the sky, he said.
Larsen saw pieces of brick and cinderblock roll in the parking lot.
``I don't ever want to be that near to something again,'' Larsen said.
Byron Reid, an employee of a nearby computer recycling company, came out after hearing and feeling the explosion and said he saw rescuers pull a man out.
``It looked like he was burned pretty bad,'' Reid said.
More than 100 firefighters from surrounding communities responded after the explosion, along with police officers from 11 departments, Aldrich said.
The victims were located based on what Smith and the building owners told rescue workers, he said.
Ramsey is a town of about 12,500 people about 25 miles northwest of the Twin Cities.
