at Least one is killed and 25 other have been injured by an explosion in an apartment block in the town of Blankenburg in eastern Germany.

this was stated by The head of the region's fire brigade Kai-Uwe Lohse to the Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk.

Several of the 25 injured are seriously injured, police told AFP.

A spokesman for the police said to the German magazine Focus, that it can not be excluded that there are more than 25 injured by the explosion.

emergency personnel are to evacuate the persons who are in the affected building, writes the police in Magdeburg on Twitter.

the Police have shared a photo that shows sortsværtede window frames in an apartment on the first floor. The glass in the windows are blown out, the smoke drifts out from the ground and the wall are also blackened by soot. On the grass in front of the apartment block is rubble.

Kai-Uwe Lohse from the fire department informs to the Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk, to about 160 rescuers are deployed. Rescue helicopters carry the worst wounded from the scene of the accident to the hospital, he adds.

It is still not clear what caused the explosion, which happened at 08.55 on Friday morning.

the Police spokesman could not immediately say something about how seriously injured they are at least 25 victims.

Blankenburg is located in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. The city has about 20,000 inhabitants.

it hit The building is located in the outskirts of Blankenburg - not far from a school and a kindergarten. About 100 children are now brought to the other institutions, informs the nursery to the Focus.

There is no immediate information on whether the pupils are also evacuated.

/ritzau/