EASTON, Mass. (AP) – An explosion destroyed a home where a natural gas crew had been working on Monday, injuring two workers, a police officer and four Stonehill College students who lived in the off-campus home, authorities said.

One Bay State Gas Co. worker and one member of a four-person contracting team were injured about 11 a.m. as the crew tried to connect the home to a gas main that had recently been installed beneath a residential street, said Donald DiNunno, a spokesman for the utility.

Four male Stonehill students who were in the home at the time were taken to local hospitals, the private Catholic college said in a statement. A fire dispatcher said a police officer who had been working a police detail on the scene also was injured.

None of those hurt appeared to have life-threatening injuries, the dispatcher said.

Three of the four students had been released from the hospital by late Monday, and the fourth was expected to be released by Tuesday at the latest, Stonehill President the Rev. Mark Cregan said in a statement. “It is a miracle that the students were not hurt and we are thankful for their well-being,” he said.

The two-story home was leveled, but there didn’t appear to be any damage to neighboring homes, DiNunno said.

After the initial explosion, flames shot out of the wreckage. Witnesses described seeing some of the students who lived in the home slowly emerge from the rubble.

The cause of the explosion was under investigation.

AP-ES-09-10-07 1843EDT