Shopping mall blast: Seven feared dead

Seven people were feared dead today, buried in the rubble of a Toronto shopping mall levelled in a natural gas explosion.

The blast started a fire at the shopping complex in western Toronto and tore a hole in the side of a nearby home. Windows were blown out at several stores across the street.

A fire brigade spokesman said construction workers had been working on a gas line when the blast occurred yesterday afternoon. Four people were sent to a hospital with undisclosed injuries.

After extinguishing the fire, emergency crews used a crane and heavy construction equipment last night to probe through the smoking rubble.

“I would say we’re in a recovery stage of victims,” said deputy fire chief Pat McCabe. “At this time we can’t find anybody.”

The strip mall contained four shops and five flats. McCabe said one of the businesses, a beauty salon, was open for business at the time of the explosion.

“The whole building at the west end has collapsed into the basement,” said Bill Hiscott of the Office of the Fire Marshal. He said crews were trying to dig through rubble on the east end of the building.