Four people are still missing after a powerful explosion destroyed large parts of a residential building in the northern Belgian town of Turnhout on Friday.
According to official reports, it was initially unclear whether there were any dead.
One person had to be taken to hospital, another was initially still trapped in the partially collapsed building.
The trapped person was said to be fine, Mayor Paul Van Miert said in an interview published on the website of the newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws. He added that contact had been made with her.
Meanwhile it was unclear where the four people who are still missing had been at the time of the explosion, and if they were in the building.
Photos from the scene of the accident showed that parts of the top two floors of the four-storey building were destroyed by the explosion. Parts of the outer wall and parts of the ceilings were torn away.
There was initially no information on the exact cause of the explosion.
"We suspect a gas explosion," said Van Miert.
