BELGIAN FIREFIGHTERS last night continued to search for up to three people feared to be trapped in the debris of an apartment building in Liege that collapsed killing one person after a suspected gas explosion.
The five-storey building tumbled down at about 7am yesterday, following the initial explosion in the early morning. Before the building collapsed, firefighters had been in contact with two people trapped by the explosion.
Several hours later, a girl was pulled from the ruins. While she received treatment in hospital, rescuers found a body.
Local witnesses said the immediate aftermath of the blast was akin to a bombing, with the building in flames and people inside screaming. A sniffer dog was unable to work in the hours after the explosion due to flames.
Family members gathered near the scene sought news of residents feared caught up in the explosion. They included a mother worried about her son who lived in the collapsed building, and parents concerned about their daughter.
As officials suggested the likely cause was a gas leak, it emerged that a resident had complained of a gas-like smell to the authorities last Saturday. “It is likely there was a gas explosion,” Mayor Willy Demeyer said. No leak was discovered after the alert on Saturday, he said.
Local police said last night three people were missing, although rescuers were not certain they were in the building.
Officials said 23 were injured, two of them seriously, following an explosion which shattered windows and damaged a number of other buildings and parked cars.
Concern was expressed yesterday that the true number of people living in the building was uncertain, as some of them may have had reason to avoid publicly declaring their residency with the authorities in Liege.
About 40 local residents, many of them in a state of shock, attended a crisis centre set up in a local church building. As temporary bedding was installed, social services provided food and blankets.