Blast at Posh Apartments in London Kills 3

LONDON —  An explosion believed caused by a gas leak toppled a luxury three-story apartment house today, killing three people and burying at least seven others under tons of rubble. One of the seven was rescued after seven hours.

“It was just like one of those bombs during the war, a vast explosion like a blue flame, like a blue flash,” said street cleaner Ron Springle, who was outside the building in southwest London.

Firemen dug with bare hands and used thermal image cameras to locate one woman, still alive under the debris. They pulled her out, still conscious after 6 1/2 hours in the 15-foot pile of debris in freezing temperatures.

Dr. John Thurston said that the woman, Eve Krejci, 35, was in good condition considering her ordeal, and that she had told rescuers her sister was still trapped in the wreckage.

An ambulance service said eight other people were hospitalized with minor injuries after the explosion, which demolished the center section of the apartment block and was heard a mile away.

Environment Secretary Tom King, speaking in Parliament, said three people were confirmed dead, and eight hours after the blast six others were unaccounted for.

“The explosion was absolutely massive,” said Anthony McDermott, who lives across the road from the apartment house in the southwestern London section of Putney. “I thought it was a bomb at first.”

Doorman Gerril Gelissen, who was in the building shortly before the explosion, said he could smell gas. A gas company spokesman said it appears that it was a gas explosion, “but why, at this stage, we can’t say.”