Five dead in Leicester explosion

LEICESTER: Rescuers yesterday pulled another body from the wreckage of a building fire in the central English city of Leicester, bringing the death toll to five, with five more people still in hospital.

An explosion on Sunday evening caused a blaze to rip through a shop and twostorey flat above it, in an incident police said was not related to terrorism.

After initially confirming a toll of four, a police spokesman said: “Sadly, in the last few hours, the number of people found dead in the collapsed building has risen to five. The number of people being treated in hospital also rose from four to five, one of whom remains in a critical condition.”

Police said there were still some people unaccounted for, but rescue efforts had to be suspended at one point due to concerns about the structural integrity of a neighbouring building.

The blast ripped through the building at about 1900 GMT (3am yesterday in Malaysia), turning a shop on the ground floor and a two-storey apartment above it into rubble.

He said there was no immediate indication that the explosion was linked to terrorism.

Pictures and videos showed flames leaping into the sky from the site, with rubble strewn across the street.

“We heard this massive explosion, the shop window six doors away vibrated and we thought it can’t be a car accident, it didn’t sound like a crash,” local resident Harrish Patni told Sky News.

Local media reported that the shop was believed to be a Polish grocery store. – AFP