Three people have been killed and at least 13 injured after a powerful explosion ripped through two floors of an apartment building in Romania’s capital, Bucharest, on Friday.
The blast impacted the fifth and sixth floors of the eight-storey structure, according to the capital’s Inspectorate for Emergency Situations. More than a dozen emergency vehicles, including 11 fire engines and four mobile intensive care units, were dispatched to the scene on Calea Rahovei in Bucharest’s Sector 5.
The cause of the fatal explosion was not immediately clear, though authorities confirmed the gas supply in the area had been shut off as a safety precaution.
Romania’s Ministry of Health said victims had been reported with polytrauma and burns.
The ministry later said one person was found dead under a concrete slab on the building’s sixth floor. At least 13 people were transported to hospitals in the capital.
A map of Calea Rahovei:
All residents were evacuated from the building and rescuers carried out search operations to identify anyone trapped. Students and teachers at a nearby school were also evacuated as a precaution, Bucharest’s School Inspectorate said.
Video footage shared by emergency authorities showed the facades of corner apartments on two stories badly mangled by the blast, which appeared to have also blown out windows in neighboring apartments. Rubble was strewn across the street below.
“Following the explosion, another nearby apartment block was affected, where detached construction elements from the building’s facade were observed,” emergency authorities said in a statement.
