Four killed in building explosion, fire in UK

leicester — Four people were killed and four more were in hospital on Monday after an explosion and fire destroyed a three-storey building in the central English city of Leicester, police said.

The cause of the blast on Sunday evening has yet to be determined but police say the incident is not being linked to terrorism.

“At this stage, there are four confirmed fatalities and four people remain in hospital, one with serious injuries,” Leicestershire Police said in a statement.

Neighbours reported that their own homes shook with the force of the blast, which sparked a fire that engulfed the ground floor shop and two-storey flat above it.

“We believe there may be people who have not yet been accounted for and rescue efforts continue in order to locate any further casualties,” Superintendent Shane O’Neill said.

Six fire crews are at the scene and emergency services were to remain at the site throughout Monday.

Major roads in the area were closed and electricity to a number of homes nearby was affected, but no properties were evacuated overnight.

“Once the site is deemed to be safe a joint investigation with Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service will begin looking into the circumstances surrounding the incident, which at this stage are not being linked to terrorism,” O’Neill said.

Firefighters worked through the night to control the blaze, which broke out shortly after 7:00pm on Sunday.

“We’ve now got specialist search and rescue teams supported by search dogs on scene,” Matt Cane, from Leicestershire Fire and Rescue, said at the site.

“We are now working to get into different areas of the building using shoring techniques to see if we can locate anybody that may be alive,” he said.

Shoring is a way of propping up weak structures. —