One person is missing, feared dead, while five others were injured, one seriously, in an explosion that ripped through a building in the centre of Lisbon, early this morning.
The damage rendered the four-storey building completely uninhabitable, while forcing the evacuation of at least 40 people from adjoining buildings.
A fire caused by the explosion was being tackled through the morning by firefighters.
The missing person is a 25-year-old.
Eye-witness accounts described an ear-splitting explosion in Rua Santa Marta shortly before 8am.
Says Observador “part of the façade fell into the street on top of cars”.
It is believed the explosion “may have been related to a gas leak”.
Dozens of emergency and rescue personnel were on the site throughout the day, but at time of writing the missing person had still not been found.
Observador describes people shouting for help in their pyjamas after the explosion and “buried with their arms out” calling for help.
Said one nearby resident: “I thought it was an earthquake, but then we saw the fire…”
Updates to come on Monday.
