Explosion in Madrid: "I was very scared"

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Images of devastation.

At least three people were killed and ten injured in the explosion of a building in downtown Madrid (placemark).

A person was taken to hospital with serious injuries, the security forces said.

One person is missing.  

The cause of the explosion was apparently a gas leak.

In the destroyed building, priests are trained and the homeless are provided with meals.

There is also a retirement home and a primary school right at the scene of the accident.  

Isabel Romero, resident:

“I was very scared for 10 minutes.

I live in that building over there, you can see my house from here.

I heard and felt the explosion but didn't know where it was coming from.

I talked to other parents and we found out that the building next to the school exploded.

We didn't know if the children were okay.

Ten minutes later they wrote to us from school in the WhatsApp groups, saying what had happened, that they were fine and that they were evacuated.

The snow, which is unusually high for Madrid, may have prevented worse things from happening: otherwise, according to parents, many pupils from the neighboring elementary school would have played in the playground - right at the time of the explosion.