Blast wrecks Belgian apartment block

More than 20 people were injured after a five-storey apartment building was ripped apart by an apparent gas explosion in Liege today.

Two people were missing and it was not clear if they were alive but still trapped in the debris of the 100-year-old building.

Firefighters heard at least two different voices under the rubble when they looked for survivors from 2am blast.

“It is likely there was a gas explosion,” Mayor Willy Demeyer said. There was a gas alert in the building over the weekend but no leak was discovered, he said.

Immediately after the blast, a fire raged through the building and thick smoke billowed up into the air from the top windows.

The blast shattered windows in the city hall, 100 yards away and spread debris and dust throughout the adjacent streets in central Liege.