Four people were killed in a gas explosion that destroyed two apartments on New Year’s Eve in Belgium, the city’s mayor told AFP on Saturday. He was not able to give the identities, gender and ages of the victims, however specifying that they were adults. The police are in the process of contacting their entourage.

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Two women also survived the explosion, including one spent 14 hours under the rubble, before being transported to hospital. They “are OK», Underlined Paul Van Miert, mayor of the city of Turnhout, east of Antwerp and close to the Dutch border. The police, the fire brigade and the emergency services carried out a “very hard work“To find the bodies of the victims and extract the survivors, he stressed.

A “large gas bubble”

The explosion took place early Friday in a four-story building with a total of 16 apartments. The blast of the explosion caused a hole in the walls and shattered windows in the vicinity.

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A “large gas bubble»Is probably at the origin of the accident, assured the city councilor, specifying that experts were going to study the rubble and the heating system to determine the exact cause of the tragedy. The building where the explosion took place will probably be destroyed.

King Philippe of Belgium telephoned the mayor on Saturday to express his condolences. And the Minister of the Interior Anneliese Verlinden is expected on site at the end of the day on Saturday.