Rabat – An explosion in a four-story building in central Madrid has left 17 people injured on Friday, most of them with light injuries.
Spanish authorities said that rescue teams are searching for potentially trapped people inside the building, which was being renovated when the explosion occurred.
One person suffered a serious injury, and four have been taken to the hospital, according to Madrid Mayor Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida.
Two of the building’s operators have been declared missing, with civil emergency services looking for them, according to Madrid’s official emergency feed.
Footage shows police drones monitoring the explosion site, scouring the rubble for victims and potential collateral damage.
Martinez-Almeida said that “some kind of work was being done in the building” when the explosion happened, adding that the cause of the explosion has not been determined yet.
Although a cause hasn’t been officially determined,nearby witnesses speculated that it could have been caused by a malfunction in gas equipment.
“Firefighters are inside checking the building’s structure and to determine whether more people could be inside,” Mayor Martinez-Almeida said.
There was no need to evacuate a nearby school across the road from the building, as it was safe and not damaged, Emergency Service Spokeswoman Gema Martin said.
