UPDATED 7:27am from Nick Gale, WLS-AM News

(CANTON) One person is dead and 11 people are injured after a large gas explosion in downstate Canton, about 30 miles southwest of Peoria.

State police have closed off a two block radius around the blast site which is in the downtown square.

As officials look into the what sparked the blast, Ameren, the natural gas supplier, says workers responded to a report of a damaged gas line last night around 5:30 p.m. A spokesman for the utility says the crew closed off the gas line and where in the process of making repairs when the explosion happened.

The Salvation Army is helping those displaced by the blast.