MADRID (AP) – The mayor of Madrid says at least two people died Wednesday in an explosion that an initial assessment linked to a gas leak. The explosion partially destroyed a building.
A nearby nursing home was evacuated, although no injuries were reported among residents.
José Luis Martínez Almeida, who visited the blast site, told the local news channel Telemadrid that he was unable to confirm how many people were injured.
He said that no serious damage had been recorded initially at the nearby school.
THIS IS AN UPDATE OF LATEST NEWS. The previous history of the PA follows below.
MADRID (AP) – A massive explosion partially destroyed a small building flanked by a school and a retirement home in the center of Spain’s capital on Wednesday. It was not clear what caused the explosion.
Images and footage shared on social media showed a smoke tower coming out of the six-story building and debris scattered on Toledo Street, near the city center. Emergency crews can be seen helping several people on the ground in a video broadcast by the Spanish public broadcaster. There were no immediate reports of deaths.
The nearby school was empty, according to TVE, because classes had not yet resumed after a record blizzard in the Spanish capital on 9 January.
In a tweet, Madrid’s regional emergency service said rescue workers, firefighters and police were working in a central area of the Spanish capital after the explosion.
Leire Reparaz, a resident of the area, told the Associated Press that she heard a loud explosion a few minutes before 3 pm local time as she was heading to her home near Puerta de Toledo, a local landmark.
“We didn’t know where the sound came from. We all thought it was from school. We went up 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 Madrid resident.