Two seriously injured in Madrid gas explosion

TWO men were seriously injured in a gas explosion in Madrid on Wednesday night.

The 53-year old caretaker and the 42-year gas maintenance technician were working in the boiler room in the building in the Chamatin district of the capital when the blast occurred.

The blast wave from the explosion mainly caused injuries mainly to their chest areas.

The caretaker managed to get out on his own two feet and call for help. A National Police officer got the gas worker out the boiler room.

When the emergency health team arrived they stabilised the blast victims before rushing them to hospital.

The technician had been called out to the building at around 7pm following reports of a smell of gas.

On the same night the Madrid emergency services evacuated a seven-storey building in another area of the city and cordoned off the area as a safety precaution for several hours after a resident reported a strong smell of gas on the third floor, which is currently unoccupied.

In a post on Twitter, Emergencias Madrid reported the fire service had detected high concentrations of gas inside the structure on Calle Alcala.