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Apartment building collapses trapping people within the rubble

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At least 20 people were injured, two critically, when a five-storey apartment building collapsed in Liege following an explosion early on Wednesday, according to officials. Others were still thought to be trapped in the debris.

At least 20 people were injured, two critically, when a five-storey apartment building collapsed in Liege following an explosion early on Wednesday, according to officials.
Others were still thought to be trapped in the debris.
A gas leak was the likely source of the explosion, officials said.
Immediately after the blast, a fire raged through the building and thick smoke billowed up into the air from the top windows of the century-old building.
Rescue workers searched the rubble of the downtown apartment block for survivors, but had to briefly flee when the facade of the building collapsed around dawn, a few hours after the 2 am (0100 GMT), blast.
Firefighters had reportedly heard at least two voices from beneath the rubble before the collapse.
It later remained unclear whether those trapped in the debris were still alive, officials said.
One firefighter confirmed that there had been no casualties among rescue workers attending the blaze and said attempts were being made to locate the two victims heard earlier.
The initial blast shattered windows in Liege's City Hall, 100 metres (yards) away and spread debris and dust throughout the adjacent streets in downtown Liege.
Mayor of Liege Willy Demayer said he had been involved in a budget debate at City Hall at the time of the blast, and participants had just left the room when they heard the explosion.
He said the room they had just left was devastated by the explosion, and staff and councillors left City Hall by the front door "because it was too dangerous to leave from the back door".
A man who was in the apartment block at the time of the explosion said: "All the windows exploded, I really didn't understand anything, the roof collapsed on top of me, and I really didn't understand. I really didn't understand."
In all, 50 people were evacuated following the blast.

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