Blast shuts down U.S. 54

Two women are in the hospital and two men are being questioned by authorities following an explosion.

That’s what the Otero County Sheriff’s Office is saying after the explosion shut down U.S. Highway 54 this Saturday evening.

The highway was reopened shortly before 8 p.m.

Hundreds of drivers were turned around after the Department of Public Safety and El Paso Police closed the highway.

Shortly after 1 p.m. authorities closed a 6-mile stretch of the highway
leaving many drivers stalled.

“I don’t know. They said something was wrong with the roads or something,” said Edward Forson, a truck driver heading east on the highway.

Officers took the time to guide hundreds of drivers on alternate routes throughout the day.
“We were going to Ruidoso and they rerouted us to Highway 70,” said Yolanda Rosales.

Fort Bliss officials reported four people were gathering scrap metal and loading it on a truck near the McGregor range when the load exploded.

Guillermo Olivas was on the road when he saw emergency crews arrive on the scene.

He tells us what he came across:

“We saw a couple of bodies on the side of the road coming from the North. There was a couple of bodies laying there. There were already policemen and emergency crews trying to help and after a while they came over and put them on a stretcher and they put them on a helicopter,” Olivas said.

The Otero County Sheriffs confirmed two women were injured in the blast and they were taken to an El Paso hospital by helicopter.

The Fort Bliss explosive ordnance disposal team was called to the scene.

There was still more explosives undetonated in the truck.

The team removed the explosives and detonated the material off the side of the road.

Meanwhile drivers were stuck for hours waiting for the road to open back up.

The Sherrifs Office told ABC-7 there was multiple explosives on the truck.

They have not been able to tell ABC-7 the condition of the two women.