A chilling surveillance video of a Kentucky Fried Chicken in North Carolina captured a fiery explosion, which demolished the fast food restaurant. Fortunately, since the blast occurred around 12:30 a.m. on Thursday, nobody was inside at the time it was destroyed. Police have confirmed that there are no reports of injuries, but the damage has left the property in shambles.
The unsettling footage captured from Eden Drug, a pharmacy next door to the KFC, shows the building abruptly becoming ripped apart. In a photo shared on Facebook by the Eden Police Department, the debris can be seen littered in front of the former storefront, which has distorted into just a partial building frame.
[fm_youtube url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHlTSOHhUW8"]It is still unknown what caused the explosion, but authorities are committed to finding the source, and WCNC reported that energy and natural gas crews arrived at the KFC after the detonation.
Surveillance video shows moment North Carolina KFC is destroyed by explosion https://t.co/ASyIP1ymNb pic.twitter.com/yWIr3PoQ7q
— FOX 13 Seattle (@fox13seattle) July 12, 2019
Eden Police Chief Greg Light wanted to make it clear his team “searched the building and no one is inside the building, which is great.”
The Police Chief also revealed to Fox 8 that he felt the blast two miles away.
“Wow! This explains why our whole house shook. We live about one mile from this scene,” Debbie Dodson, an Eden resident shared on social media. “I assume that due to the time of the explosion that the building was unoccupied and pray that no one was injured.”
An employee, who smelt gas, spoke to a manager before the store closed, who was advised to call the gas company before leaving, according to USA Today.
“I just spoke to an employee who work last night at KFC. He says he left feeling nauseous with a headache he says from smelling gas inside the restaurant. He says he is thankful to be alive after the explosion happened just hours after cleanup,” Meredith Stutz of WXII tweeted.
She also shared on Twitter that drones were arriving to site of KFC explosion in Eden to survey damage.
NEW: Drone arrives to site of KFC explosion in Eden to survey damage. @WXII pic.twitter.com/6KTiYIPq7H
— Meredith Stutz (@Meredith_Stutz) July 11, 2019
In addition to the disturbing photo, Daniel Pierce, a reporter at Fox 8, shared what appears to be the restaurant’s drive-thru window 50 feet away.
Here is part of, what looks to be, the drive-thru window from KFC. It’s about 50 feet away from the building. @myfox8 pic.twitter.com/IGJN9BnBE4
— Daniel Pierce (@DanielDPierce) July 11, 2019
That wasn’t all the reporter shared. He came back early in the morning to film the crews searching through the KFC debris.
Crews are in the back of the building looking through debris. @myfox8 pic.twitter.com/Co39WYA9eQ
— Daniel Pierce (@DanielDPierce) July 11, 2019
The KFC explosion also caused damaged to neighboring businesses and it is confirmed that displaced employees will work at nearby locations until the location is rebuilt.
Additionally, he shared video of the KFC letters being removed.
Crews removing letters from KFC sign. It’s the only thing still standing at the spot of the explosion in Eden. @myfox8 pic.twitter.com/l2K7h9UMy1
— Daniel Pierce (@DanielDPierce) July 11, 2019
This is literally all that is left of the back end.
This is the backside view of the KFC. This is where the excavator has been stationed most of the time. @myfox8 pic.twitter.com/eHzvHaEWTI
— Daniel Pierce (@DanielDPierce) July 11, 2019
The pictures are just gut-wrenching.
KFC in Eden blew tf up! Praying for the employees who don’t have a job to go to in the morning and thank God no one was hurt from the explosion but also thank God that it wasn’t Bojangles either! 🙏🏽🤣🤷🏽♂️😂 pic.twitter.com/E4gqoxXs3y
— Mälíkkkk (@Obeyy_Malik_) July 11, 2019
Another reporter on the scene shared footage after the crew pushed back debris to keep the road safe.
Back on scene at the KFC explosion in Eden. You can see crews have pushed debris back to where the building was to keep it away from the road @myfox8 pic.twitter.com/cbLcYMNQiI
— Tess Bargebuhr (@Tessbargebuhr) July 12, 2019
“The franchisee organization for this restaurant places the safety and care of its employees as its top priority. They are actively placing the impacted team members at their choice of six area KFC restaurants to minimize disruption to their work schedules and pay while the Eden location undergoes rebuilding,” the fast food chain confirmed.
After looking at the damages, all we can think about is how grateful nobody was inside the building or physically harmed by the explosions.
