MADRID (AP) – A loud explosion apparently caused by a gas leak on Wednesday partially destroyed a residential building in the center of the Spanish capital, killing two people and injuring at least two more, officials said.
The first images and images shared on social media showed a smoke tower emerging from the six-story building and debris scattered on Toledo Street, near the city center. Emergency services were seen helping several people to the ground.
Mayor José Luis Martínez Almeida confirmed the two deaths to Telemadrid news channel and said the initial estimate was that the explosion was caused by a gas leak.
A nearby nursing home was evacuated, although no injuries were initially reported among residents, Martínez Almeida said. He said residents were taken to a hotel across the street.
Martínez Almeida also said minor damage had been found at a nearby school. Spanish public broadcaster TVE said the school would have been empty as classes had not yet resumed after a record snowfall in Madrid on Jan. 9.
In a tweet, Madrid’s regional emergency service said rescue teams, firefighters and police were working in a central part of the Spanish capital after the explosion.
Leire Reparaz, a resident of the area, told The Associated Press that she heard a loud explosion locally a few minutes before 3 p.m. on her way to her home near the Puerta de Toledo, a local landmark.
‘We didn’t know where the sound was coming from. We all thought it was 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 resident of Madrid.
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AP photographer Paul White contributed to this report.