Explosion on Island of Jersey leaves at least one dead

An explosion occurred early on Saturday morning at a row of apartments on the island of Jersey, off the coast of northern France, leaving one person dead and a number of others missing.

Robin Smith, Chief Officer of the States of Jersey Police, stated in a video message, "Tragically we have one verified fatality." Just before 4:00 GMT, there was an explosion, and the fire has since been put out.

According to Smith, people had reported the smell of gas on Friday before the explosion, and fire services had been dispatched to the location. He said the cause of the explosion would be investigated and made no comments about it.

In St. Helier, the island's capital, a three-story structure near the harbour had entirely fallen, according to Smith, and a search and rescue effort had started to discover about a dozen more individuals who were missing.

He claimed that between 20 and 30 persons had been evacuated and that two "walking wounded" were receiving medical attention.

When asked if there might be more fatalities, he responded, "There needs to be an acceptance that there might be more fatalities."

Jersey is a British Crown Dependency with a little more than 100,000 residents.

"It's a huge shock to everyone this morning but in the first instance our condolences go to the families who are affected and we're all thinking and praying for those who are worried about their loved ones this morning," said Kristina Moore, Chief Minister of Jersey.

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