At least 18 people have been injured in an explosion that occurred early this Friday afternoon in a building on Calle de General Pardiñas, corner with Ayala, in the Salamanca district of Madrid, reports a spokeswoman for Emergencies Madrid.
The injured, in principle, are all minor, except one, who is serious, and four of them have been evacuated to hospitals.
Firefighters and agents of the canine unit are looking for two missing workers in the rubble of the affected house, from which they have rescued four people with a scale.
"We don't know what happened.
The neighbors refer to a strong explosion, but we work on all the hypotheses”, explained the mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez Almeida, who has approached the confluence of Ayala with Conde de Peñalver.
The four-story building
"It is unstable and is at risk of collapse," warned the municipal fire chief, who is propping up the foundations.
These troops, along with the Samur-Civil Protection, Municipal and National Police and the Summa, continue to work at the scene of the event.
Specifically, the explosion occurred around one in the afternoon at number 35 on General Pardiñas street.
The Samur has already treated 18 wounded, of which 10 have already been discharged, while four have been transferred to hospitals – three to the La Princesa hospital and a pregnant woman to the Gregorio Marañón Maternity Hospital.
"All those treated are of a minor nature except one of them, who is serious and suffers from polytrauma," said Emergencies, adding that the property, which has four floors, "has been badly damaged" and there is "numerous damage to vehicles parked and in street furniture”.
What there is not, the mayor said, is "affected people outside the building of the explosion."
At first, Emergencies explained that "the firefighters are trying to access the apartment with ladders on the facade" and that they have rescued four people who were inside.
"Right now they are prioritizing the search for possible victims who may be inside," added the spokeswoman.
Later, the head of the City Council Fire Department, Rafael Ferrandiz, has specified that the person they are looking for is two workers who worked in the building and who could be trapped under two meters of rubble.
The troops are also working in a basement area "at high risk" and that is "very unstable", so they are propping it up.
The troops have evacuated the adjoining buildings as a precaution.
Explosion in a building in the Salamanca district of Madrid.
Lucie Maillard
Regarding the origin of the explosion, a Naturgy spokeswoman indicates that "the technicians are in the area right now evaluating" and to make measurements, while stressing that "it does not have to be the fault" of the gas.
Some neighbors had smelled a strong odor of gas before the explosion, which caused a loud noise and alarmed neighbors several blocks away.
"It has vibrated so much that I thought it was a bomb," said a neighbor, María Zapatero.
Other inhabitants of the property, however, attribute what happened to some works.
A building cleaner has confirmed that they are working on the third floor.
Emilio, doorman of Ayala 82, right in front of the building of the explosion, has confirmed: "The noise has been tremendous and several windows have broken."
“We have not even waited for them to evict us, all the neighbors have gone down and we have moved away and the transfer of police and firefighters has quickly begun,” he recalled while his phone did not stop ringing with relatives concerned about his condition.
“We left in a hurry, I didn't even have time to pick up the mask.
It's the first time I've gone out without her! ”, A neighbor, Mari Carmen Martínez, 78, who lives in a ground floor right next to the affected building, has counted nervously and in house clothes, while waiting on Hermosilla street for allow him to return home.
The explosion has been so violent that the windows of the windows of her house that face the street have been broken, she explains.
Gas explosion in the Salamanca district.
Firefighters on site.
pic.twitter.com/dpRLN8OD8S
– 🔥 Óscar 🚁 (@BomberoForestaI) May 6, 2022
Next to the building there are two schools, Nuestra Señora de Loreto and Inmaculada Concepción, which have not been evacuated and where Ese has treated three people with anxiety crises.
Still at the door of the first, an 11-year-old student, Anabel, tells about half past two in the afternoon: “We were in class and we heard an explosion and everything vibrated.
They have organized us and we have left”.
“One of my daughters told me that there had been an explosion and she made a video call to us, we approached immediately and we saw that it was very close.
Now they have let them out,” explains Tamara Gonzalez, mother of two students from Nuestra Señora de Loreto, in whose patio there is rubble and a radiator that has flown from the affected apartment.
Evacuation as such has not occurred, since the event has occurred close to departure time and, as the parents have been approaching, they have been taken from the centers, where there are still children.
In the place, the Samur has set up a field hospital and a command management post, while asking citizens to avoid these streets to facilitate the movement of emergency vehicles.
In any case, the affected area is cordoned off.
The Madrid Municipal Police regulates traffic in the area and has deployed drones to capture images from above.
#Explosion on Ayala Street.
@BomberosMad @SAMUR_PC and @policiademadrid are already working in the area.
Avoid the area to facilitate the movement of #emergency vehicles.
pic.twitter.com/9tRTKZpNwv
– Emergencies Madrid (@EmergenciasMad) May 6, 2022
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