Badajoz house explosion leaves one dead and at least nine hospitalised in Extremadura

An explosion in an apartment block in the city of Badajoz this afternoon left one person dead and at least nine others hospitalised with injuries.

The incident occurred at around 3.30 pm at a property located on Calle Hernando de Soto, in the San Fernando district of the city.

Video footage posted on the Badajoz_Ciudada Twitter profile showed the full extent of the awful blast.

???? #ÚLTIMAHORA
Explosión de vivienda en la ciudad de Badajoz.
Zona San Fernando. pic.twitter.com/ElVp3hr8kd

— Badajoz_Ciudad (@CiudadBadajoz) June 1, 2023

As reported by the National Police, as a result of the blast, a section of the building’s facade was destroyed. A firefighter from Badajoz Fire Brigade suffered a nasty blow to his head while tackling the ensuing fire but no further information has been released about his current state of health.

Residents were evacuated from the affected building with fire crews arriving promptly on the scene after being deployed by the 112 Emergencies Services of Extremadura.

Firefighters were in the process of forcing the front door of the block when the explosion took place. A strong smell of gas had allegedly been noticed coming from the building before the explosion happened, as reported by elespanol.com.

Two basic life support ambulances were also dispatched to the address, along with a medicalised unit, a team from the Badajoz Continuing Care Point, and patrols from the National and Local Police.

According to 112, the health services treated 16 people for minor injuries, including four who were transferred to Badajoz University Hospital. They are said to be in a stable condition. The building suffered ‘substantial’ material damage they added.

Four gas cylinders were reportedly discovered by the authorities inside the burned-out remains of the apartment where the blast originated from.

In a tweet, the service wrote: “#Explosion #Badajoz 16 people attended, of which 4 have been transferred to the HUB after a gas explosion on the 2nd floor of a residential building that has been evacuated. Firefighters, PL and CNP of Ba, as well as Red Cross and SES units intervene”.

#Explosión #Badajoz 16 personas atendidas, de las cuales 4 han sido trasladadas al HUB tras explosión por gas en una 2ª planta de un edificio de viviendas que ha sido desalojado . Intervienen Bomberos, PL y CNP de Ba, así como unidades de Cruz Roja y del SES. pic.twitter.com/ub3JK1qc42

— 112 Extremadura (@JuntaEx112) June 1, 2023