The building’s windows were blown out, and one corner of the structure was badly damaged but there was no major collapse, with the damage reportedly being less severe than initially thought.
Advertisement
A sports facility in Belgium has been destroyed by an explosion that has also killed at least one person.
An explosion hit a sports center in the southern Belgian city of Chimay early Friday, killing one person and injuring four others.
People are feared to be trapped under the rubble and the local fire service is now leading a huge rescue operation.
An official at Belgium’s Crisis Centre told Reuters: “It is probably a gas explosion”. The two seriously injured have been transported to different hospitals.
The cause of the fatal blast was not immediately clear..
“We are not 100 percent sure, but, most likely, we are dealing with a gas explosion due to a suicide”.
Belgium and France, along with the rest of Europe, have been on high alert following a number of ISIS attacks over the past year.
Advertisement
Belgian state radio RTBF said the blast happened in the town of Chimay, 120 kilometers (75 miles) south of the capital Brussels just after midnight.
