Emergency services are present at the site of an explosion in Madrid on January 20.
Source: Emergencias Madrid
Source: Emergencias Madrid
Madrid (AP) – A powerful gas explosion ripped through a residential building in central Madrid on Wednesday, killing four people and tearing the facade of the structure.
A smoke tower rose from the building, where gas boiler repairs were being made, and churned down Toledo Street, near the city center. Aerial footage shared by Spain’s national police showed debris in a nearby schoolyard – though Madrid’s mayor said no one was seriously injured at the school.
All students and staff were in the school buildings at the time of the explosion.
At least 11 people were injured in the explosion, one seriously, Madrid’s emergency services said in a tweet.
The Spanish government’s representative for the Madrid region, José Manuel Franco, confirmed three victims, and the Catholic parish that owned the damaged building said the fourth victim was an electrician, a father of four, who worked on the boiler and was initially considered missing. .
A police spokesperson on site told reporters that firefighters tried to extinguish a small fire in the building before bringing in dogs, rescue teams and experts to assess the structure of the damaged property.
An Associated Press reporter saw rescuers carrying two bodies away from the area, one covered with a blue blanket by firefighters and another wrapped in reflective emergency sail.
The building belongs to the nearby Catholic parish of La Paloma and housed the offices and apartments of some of its priests, Archbishop Carlos Osoro of Madrid told Spanish public broadcaster TVE. He confirmed that none of the clergy were among the victims.
Emy Lee Grau, a local who watched television in a building across the street, said the moment of the blast was “terrifying.”
“Everything shook, it felt like the roof fell on us. We were terrified to see the amount of smoke coming out of the meetinghouse, ”the 20-year-old Madrid resident told The Associated Press.
A nearby nursing home was evacuated and no injuries were initially reported among the 55 residents, Madrid Mayor José Luis Martínez Almeida told reporters. They were taken to a hotel across the street and later sent to other care homes, officials said.
Martínez Almeida also said there was some mild damage in the school, saying people suffered no more than “scratches”.
Neighbor Leire Reparaz said she heard the explosion and was not immediately sure where it came from.
‘We all thought it came from the 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.
___
Associated Press photographer Paul White contributed to this report.