Terrible explosion in Madrid downtown: Destroyed building, several dead VIDEO / PHOTO

Terrible explosion in Madrid downtown: Destroyed building, several dead VIDEO / PHOTO

One building was destroyed and the surrounding buildings were damaged. The explosion happened not far from the tourist attraction Puerta de Toledo, the famous city gate.

Unofficially, it is possible that there was an accident due to a gas leak. Allegations surfaced that the occupants felt gas hours before the explosion.

Local media say, citing sources in the police, that the explosion occurred at a time when workers were checking the gas installations in the building.

Spanish television La Sexta, transmitted the words of the witness who stated that at least six people were injured. El Pais reports that at least three people were killed.

Madrid Mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida had previously said that at least two people had lost their lives.

Telemadrid reports that one person is trapped in the building. An 85-year-old man and woman were killed. A 26-year-old man was seriously injured and suffered a fracture of the wrist and a spinal injury.

A 53-year-old man suffered a concussion, the Madrid Ambulance announced.

One child was slightly injured due to parts of the building that were shattered all over after the explosion, firefighters confirmed.

Three floors of the building in Toledo Street were destroyed in the explosion, Pais newspaper writes. The building affected by the explosion belongs to the Church of the Virgin of Paloma, the report of the firefighters said.

The nursing home is nearby, but a spokesman for the institution said that no protégé or employee was injured. A video of the disaster from his home, which shows the wreckage, was shared by Rodrigo Verano on Twitter.

Witnesses told the local Madrid newspaper ABC that it sounded like a bomb.

Local resident Leire Reparaz, 24, told the Associated Press that she heard a loud explosion.

"We didn't know where the sound was coming from. We all thought it was from school. We ran up the stairs, to the top of our building and saw the structure of the building and a lot of gray smoke."