An explosion in a jewelry store in Cerdanyola leaves four injured, two seriously

BarcelonaAn explosion at a jewelry store in Cerdanyola del Vallès has left four people injured, two of whom are in serious condition. The blast took place this Tuesday afternoon on the ground floor of a building on Carrer Sant Antoni in Cerdanyola del Vallès, which caused the collapse of the floor slab of one of the rooms on the upper floor. The Fire Department has evacuated the building where the jewelry store is located and the two adjacent buildings, and they suspect that the cause may be a gas explosion, although they clarify that the investigation remains open.

The Medical Emergency System (SEM), which has deployed ten ambulances, has transported a woman in serious condition to the Parc Taulí Hospital in Sabadell and a man, also in serious condition, to the Vall d'Hebron Hospital in Barcelona. As for the other two injured, they are two people with minor injuries who were treated at the scene and have already been discharged.

For their part, the Fire Department has activated nine crews, including specialists from the Collapsed Structures Group (GREC) and the Canine Search Group (GRCR), who are working on searching the rubble to rule out the presence of more victims. However, sources from the force explain that there are no reports of anyone missing.

For its part, Civil Protection has activated the PROCICAT special emergency plan in the pre-alert phase. The operation also includes the municipal architect of the Cerdanyola City Council to assess the structural damage to the building, as well as technicians from the gas supply company to inspect the installations and investigate the origin of the blast.

The return of the neighbors

The territorial head of the Fire Department, Gerard Valls, explained that once it is ruled out that there are more people affected, the structural damage will be assessed. It will be then that it can be determined if the evacuated residents can return to their homes. Regarding the building where the explosion occurred, the head of the Fire Department does not rule out that a part could be habitable. In any case, pending this assessment, Valls did specify that both the jewelry store where the explosion occurred and the apartment immediately above it, part of the floor of which has fallen into the commercial premises, have suffered "great damage".

The spokesperson for the emergency corps also explained that one of the seriously injured people was a resident of the building, while the other was related to the activity of the premises. Regarding the third injured person, Valls indicated that it was the one who notified the emergency services after the explosion.