Death toll rises to 9 in explosion at gas station in Ireland village

The death toll in an explosion at a gas station in a small village in northwest Ireland has risen to nine, police said on Saturday, as emergency workers combed piles of rubble for more victims.

Irish police said they did not expect to find more survivors from Friday's explosion in Creeslough, County Donegal. Eight people are in hospitals after a blast tore through the Applegreen service station in the community of about 400 people.

The search and recovery for further fatalities continues," said the police force, An Garda Siochana. The cause of the blast is under investigation.

Emergency responders from Ireland and neighbouring Northern Ireland are involved in what police said was now a search and recovery operation. Sniffer dogs combed the debris, and a mechanical digger lifted piles of rubble from the site.

The explosion levelled the gas station building, which holds the main shop and post office for the village, and damaged an adjacent residential building.

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