Explosion in a Building in Madrid Kills Bulgarian and at Least 3 Other People

An 85-year-old woman and one Bulgarian was among three people killed today as a gas explosion blew apart a seven-storey block in Madrid while a repairman worked on the boiler. 

The top four floors of the building, belonging to the Catholic Church, were obliterated at around 3pm, leaving the centre of the Spanish capital looking like a war zone.  

Speaking at the scene, Madrid Mayor Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida said an 85-year-old woman had died along with another man whose age was not immediately clear, while the third victim was still 'under the rubble'.

 A fourth person, believed to be the boiler repairman, remains unaccounted for. 

Another 11 people were injured, one of whom was in serious condition. Church sources said it was a recently-ordained priest.

Despite the force of the blast, no one was hurt in the elderly care home next door, nor in an adjacent school where tonnes of rubble fell into the playground while the children were in lessons, city officials said.  

Meanwhile Bulgarian Foreign Ministry said that 47-year-old Bulgarian citizen was among those killed in the Madrid blast.

Bulgarian embassy in the Spanish capital was informed about the death of the Bulgarian citizen orally on two different channels by the local police. 

The Bulgarian citizen, who died in the powerful explosion in a residential building in the center of Madrid, passed by accident, BNR reports.