At least two people were killed and several injured in Madrid on Wednesday, when a church building partially collapsed in a massive explosion believed to have been caused by a gas leak, reports say.
“There appears to have been a gas explosion in the building,” Mayor José Luis Martinez-Almeida told reporters at the scene, where hundreds of rescuers filled the streets strewn with rubble.
He told Telemadrid that two people had died in the blast, which officials later said had injured at least eight people, one seriously.
“At least four floors were affected by the explosion in the building on Calle Toledo,” emergency services wrote on Twitter.
“Priests living on the fifth and sixth floors are fine. We are trying to find a volunteer who works with us, “Madrid’s Vicar General Avelino Revilla told Telemadrid, according to Reuters.
A fire that started inside the building on Toledo Street made it more difficult for rescuers and firefighters to search for any other possible survivors, the mayor said.
The building provides residential training for priests and provides meals for the homeless, a neighbor told Reuters.
A nearby nursing home was evacuated, although no injuries were reported immediately among residents.
No serious damage was reported to a nearby school, which was initially empty, as classes had not yet resumed after a record snowfall in the Spanish capital on January 9th.
The mayor later said that there were some people there, but that they only suffered “scratches”.
Leire Reparaz, who lives near Puerto de Toledo, a local landmark, said she heard a loud explosion.
“I did not know where the sound came from. We all thought it was from school. We climbed the stairs to the top of our building and we could see the structure of the building and a lot of gray smoke “, said the 24-year-old.
Videos and pictures posted on social media showed lead smoke coming out of the building.
“The noise was very loud, very loud, indeed,” said Lorenzo Fomento, a 43-year-old Italian salesman who told a France-Presse agency by telephone in a nearby apartment.
“I’ve never heard anything so loud before,” he added.
With Post threads