Watch: Massive explosion in Jersey leaves one dead, many missing
One person was killed and several others were missing after a "devastating" explosion Saturday at a block of flats in Jersey's capital St Helier, police on the Channel island said.
A fire was put out but emergency services are still conducting "significant work" at the scene of the flattened building, the police said, as a line of ambulances queued up.
Fire crews mobilised after residents reported smelling gas, before the explosion at around 4:00 am (0400 GMT), Jersey police chief Robin Smith told reporters.
"We have a three-storey building that has completely collapsed -– described from a demolition point of view as a pancake that has dropped almost straight down," he said.
"There is also damage to a nearby building as well, another block of flats that the fire service needs to make safe. It is a pretty devastating scene, I regret to say."
Photographs on social media showed thick smoke billowing above the blaze in St Helier before dawn.
Smith said that "around a dozen" people were missing, "but you will appreciate also that number could fluctuate".
"Specialist resources" have been mobilised to find anyone trapped in the rubble, according to the police.
One person had died...
