The five family members inside the home that exploded Thursday near Hayward have been identified by friends as Jorge Duenas Ponce, his adult brother and sister, and two young children, as investigators examine how a ruptured gas line ignited a blast that leveled the house and left several people critically injured.
The explosion occurred around 9:35 a.m. on the 800 block of East Lewelling Boulevard in Ashland, an unincorporated community in Alameda County.
The family lived at 867 East Lewelling Blvd., a single-family home that was reduced to rubble in seconds, scattering debris across the neighborhood…