Man, 18, Killed When Chimney Crushes Car After House Explosion

LAWRENCE, MA — An 18-year-old Lawrence man was killed when a chimney from a house explosion crushed the car he was in, the Essex County District Attorney's Office said late Thursday night. The fatality is the first confirmed following a series of explosions and fires in the Merrimack Valley.

Leonel Rondon was struck on Chickering Road, where one of the first house explosions was reported in the late afternoon. He died at Massachusetts General Hospital around 8:30 p.m.

WHDH reported Rondon got his license Thursday.

Dozens of gas explosions rocked Andover, North Andover, and Lawrence Thursday, forcing the evacuations of tens of thousands. Read more here.