Searchers trawl through rubble after UK shop blast

Explosion kills four in Leicester. Police say there’s no evidence of terrorism

Emergency personnel continue to work at the scene of an explosion and fire Sunday night which destroyed a shop and building above in Leicester, England, Monday Feb. 26, 2018, where four people were killed and others seriously injured. Emergency service officials say Monday four people have been hositalised but more people may be missing and a search and rescue operation is continuing. (Joe Giddens/PA via AP)

Debris after what was described as a "major incident" in Leicester, central England, Sunday Feb. 25, 2018. Four people were hospitalized in critical condition following an explosion that left a building in the English city of Leicester in flames Sunday, local emergency agencies said. (Aaron Chown/PA via AP)

Members of the emergency services move debris at the site of an explosion which destroyed a convenience store and a home in Leicester, Britain, February 25, 2018. REUTERS/Darren Staples

Members of the emergency services work at the site of an explosion which destroyed a convenience store and a home in Leicester, Britain, February 25, 2018. REUTERS/Darren Staples

Members of the emergency services work at the site of an explosion which destroyed a convenience store and a home in Leicester, Britain, February 25, 2018. REUTERS/Darren Staples

Members of the emergency services work at the site of an explosion which destroyed a convenience store and a home in Leicester, Britain, February 25, 2018. REUTERS/Darren Staples

Members of the emergency services work at the site of an explosion which destroyed a convenience store and a home in Leicester, Britain, February 25, 2018. REUTERS/Darren Staples

Specialist search teams were searching the rubble of a three-storey shop and flat complex in the central England city of Leicester on Monday after an explosion left four people dead and at least four more injured.

Police said there was no evidence of terrorism but said it was too early to say what caused the blast that destroyed a newly-opened Polish supermarket and the flats above it. Some people who may have been in the building remain unaccounted for.

Pictures from the scene showed a gap between a takeaway food shop and another commercial property. The shop was believed to be open at the time of the explosion at 7pm on Sunday.

"I felt a tremor, what felt like an earthquake shock and I heard a very low boom that sounded like a very, very fast release of pressure,” said BBC journalist John Alexander who lived close by.

“I thought my house was going to fall down on top of me and all my neighbours have said the same thing. I saw one guy get pulled out and he'll be very lucky if he wasn't killed.”

Of the four people in hospital, one has serious injuries. “It is still a search and rescue operation,” said Superintendent Shane O’Neill of Leicestershire police. “It is important we try and find as many people as possible.”

Gas network Cadent said establishing the cause of the fire would be a matter for the fire and police services.