An
explosion destroyed an apartment building in
Germany during the night leaving at least 25 people injured with firefighters still trying to get the blaze under control.
Among the casualties, four people have been described as severely injured by German authorities and were taken to hospital.
The explosion rocked a building in
Wuppertal, a western city in Germany, shortly before midnight on Saturday.
Following the blast, several fires broke out in different parts of the building.
Firefighters were still attempting to tackle the blaze on Monday morning, but their efforts kept being frustrated by parts of the building that continued to collapse.
Witnesses reported hearing a large noise that scared them and those living in surrounding homes, leading many to ran out into the street in panic.
But some residents remained trapped inside the collapsing building and were only later rescued by firefighters.
A police spokesman said: "It can currently not be ruled out that there are still other people in the building.
"The rescue efforts are ongoing."
The Wuppertal police also spoke of a "picture of devastation", as large parts of the building's facade crumbled onto the street showing the interior of some apartments entirely destroyed by the blast and the blaze.
Specialist engineers were stabilizing the partially collapsed apartments to prevent it from completely falling.
Harrowing photos show a gaping hole in the row of apartments and piles of rubbles around the building.
The explosion prompted a police investigation to look into what caused it.
A policeman told local news website DW: "How this came to pass and what the background is, that remains completely unclear."