Dallas Apartment Explosion: What we know about the victims

DALLAS - At least three people died and five more were injured when their Oak Cliff apartment exploded on Thursday afternoon.

FOX 4 has been learning more about those victims, as well as other residents who said they are lucky to be alive.

3 Dead

Dallas officials confirmed three people were killed – two women and a child.

The Dallas County Medical Examiner’s Office has not yet released the names of the victims, but friends and family members have shared those names with FOX 4.

Marisol Perez and her 18-month-old son, Erick, did not make it out of their apartment, according to family members.

FOX 4’s cameras were rolling when Perez’s 10-year-old daughter was reunited with her aunt and grandmother. The little girl escaped by running out of the building as fast as she could.

The identity of the third victim has not yet been released.

Friends and family also believe longtime Dallas County Democratic Party precinct chair Sylvia Collins was a victim. She lived in the building and has been missing since the explosion.

"Sylvia is a tireless advocate for our community. We are holding Sylvia, her family, and all those who love her close in our hearts as we await more information," the party wrote on social media.

Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said the medical examiner has their bodies. 

"We're going through the process of IDing those folks. They were autopsied this morning. We'll get more information shortly on that," he said. "And our hearts go out to the families, and we won't be announcing publicly the names of the people until we've notified next of kin."

5 Injured

Five people were reportedly taken to the hospital following the explosion. 

Officials said one of those victims is in critical but stable condition. The other four have non-life-threatening injures and are expected to be released.

Neighbor Rodney Brown told FOX 4 he helped to rescue one of those victims from the apartment before more flames engulfed it.

"I ran that way and went to the apartments across the street and they were on this side. And I said, ‘Hey, there’s a baby over here.’ And I just went and got her," he said. "My instinct was that I seen her and I wanted to help."

Brown said the victim told him her mother and siblings were still in the apartment complex, but he was unable to return because the fire had spread.

The little girl was taken away by ambulance.

Still Missing

Dallas Fire-Rescue Chief Justin Ball said his crews searched the explosion site with cadaver dogs and drones until 2 a.m. on Friday.

The apartment building had 22 units and 19 were occupied. Based on the resident list and conversations with residents and their family members, "everyone is accounted for," the chief said.

Lucky to Be Alive

Oak Cliff resident Kacee said she had just moved into her new apartment complex last week.

On Thursday, she left to run errands and returned to the building on fire. All of her belongings were in the apartment that caught fire, including her 14-year-old cat Shirley. 

"I don't know what to do. This is everything I have right here," she said.

Alta DeBose said she lost three cats and two dogs in the explosion.

DeBose said neither she nor her husband were at the apartment at the time of the explosion.

 "This is like a nightmare," she said. "You go on thinking the next day is going to be the same, but it's not."

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