At least 25 people injured in Madrid blast

By Esra Tekin

ISTANBUL (AA) - At least 25 people have been injured, three seriously and two in potentially serious condition, following a gas explosion Saturday in the Puente de Vallecas district of Madrid, the El Pais newspaper reported.

The blast occurred around 3 pm local time (1300GMT) and affected a commercial space that had been converted into a residence, the building above it, and a neighboring bar.

Carlos Marín de la Bárcena, chief of the Madrid City Fire Department, confirmed it was a gas explosion, though the exact type of gas, its cause or the precise location where it originated has not yet been determined.

The building has been evacuated and Madrid’s Deputy Mayor Inmaculada Sanz said residents of the nine apartments in the three-story building may need to be relocated for days due to "significant damage to the structural flooring between the ground and first floors."

Sanz, the city’s head of Security and Emergencies, noted that the City Council is coordinating with Samur Social to provide temporary housing solutions to affected residents. Municipal technicians will now conduct a full structural assessment of the building.

Firefighters, working manually due to the instability of the structure, which makes the use of heavy machinery unsafe, have rescued four people from beneath the rubble.

Sanz indicated that much of the debris has already been cleared, and it now “seems unlikely” that more people are trapped.