4th body recovered after house explosion in Atlantic County, New Jersey

This story originally appeared on 6abc.

The death toll has risen to four after an explosion in New Jersey on Thursday reduced a home to rubble.

A third and fourth body were recovered at the scene Friday, according to police sources.

Search operations were wrapping up as of approximately 5 p.m.

A 1-year-old girl and a 16-year-old girl were among those injured in the explosion. Both victims were flown to St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia.

Authorities say a 2-year-old boy, a 3-year-old girl, and two men ages 52 and 73 were also in the house.

The identities of the bodies found have not been released.

Action News spoke with a neighbor who says she is heartbroken after hearing two of the children she helped raise died in the explosion.

She says she has been best friends with the children’s mother for over a decade. She asked to remain anonymous.

“They were just so innocent and so precious. I don’t get it,” she said. “There’s no reason she should have had to say goodbye to two of her babies yesterday while she was at work, trying to provide for them.”

Another anonymous friend echoed her sentiment.

“She would have died for those babies. If it could have been her, it definitely would have been her and not the babies,” said the neighbor.

The explosion happened around 10:35 a.m. Thursday on the 300 block of Northwest Boulevard in the Landisville section of Buena.

Franklin Township Police Chief Matthew DeCesari says this is being treated as a criminal case until a cause can be determined.

“We kind of err on the side of caution just in case it is – we can’t go backward,” he said. “So at this point, we’re going to treat it as a criminal investigation until we determine whether it’s not or it is.”

Video from Chopper 6 showed the home had been reduced to rubble and debris could also be seen around the yard.

DeCesari says neighbors are also feeling the impact of the explosion.

“There are at least two houses displaced at this time that I know of that were in very close proximity to where the blast was, and they had fire damage, windows knocked out, so not habitable at this point,” he said.

Neighbors said the explosion was so large that car alarms in the area started going off.

“The house shook so much that I thought it was in the house,” said Lydia Velazquez.

The explosion brought neighbors out to see what was going on.

“The nurse that was down the street from where I live, she was running down the street and I said, ‘Where are you going?’ And she says, ‘I’m going to see if I can help,'” Velazquez said.

Stunned neighbors were anxious for updates.

“Flames, fire. As soon as we pulled out of our driveway it was like a big gulf of fire,” said Jamie Henricksen.

“It’s sad. It’s sad. It’s right next to the church,” said Robin DeLaurentis-Rodriguez.

The Red Cross is assisting the displaced residents while others who had to evacuate already returned home.

Federal and local partners are assisting with the investigation.

There has been no word on what caused the explosion.