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At least three people were killed and many others were missing after an explosion and fire at an apartment building on the Channel Island of Jersey, police said Saturday.
“About a dozen” residents were missing after the explosion in the town of St. Helier, Jersey State Police Chief Robin Smith told a news conference.
The largest of the Channel Islands, Jersey is a self-governing dependency of the United Kingdom located off the northern coast of France in the English Channel.
A three-story building “completely collapsed” and a nearby building was also damaged, Smith said.
He described the scene as “devastating” and warned more deaths were likely.
The fire department had been called to the area the night before after residents reported smelling gas, Smith said.
Police will investigate “whether there are safety issues” with the gas pipeline, he said.
Police said in a statement that while the fire had been extinguished, emergency services were working “intensively on the scene”.
Authorities advised Jersey residents to seek emergency hospital care only in the event of an actual medical emergency and to avoid the cordoned-off blast zone.
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