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At least three dead in Belgium explosion

By AAP Newswire

Jan 1, 2022

Belgium Blast — A blast has destroyed a residential in Turnhout, Belgium, with at least three people reported dead. -AP

Three people have been confirmed dead after a powerful explosion destroyed large parts of a residential building in the northern Belgian town of Turnhout, while a woman was extracted alive from the rubble.

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Rescuers found two more bodies in the rubble Turnhout Mayor Paul Van Miert said on Friday night, according to news agency Belga.Â

Authorities had previously confirmed another death.

The search for a missing person meanwhile continued, though it was unclear whether the person had been in the building at the time of the explosion.

The rescued woman was taken to hospital, Belga cited Van Miert as saying. She had been in contact with rescue workers but could not initially be freed due to serious damage to the building.

Photos from the scene showed that parts of the top two floors of the four-storey building destroyed by the explosion. Parts of the outer wall and parts of the ceiling were torn off.

There was initially no information on the exact cause of the blast.

"We suspect a gas explosion," Van Miert said in an interview published on the website of the newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws.

By AAP Newswire

Australian Associated Press