Spanish apartment block collapses, 5 dead-media

MADRID, May 1 (Reuters) A five-storey apartment block in the Spanish city of Palencia collapsed after an explosion caused by a suspected gas leak today, killing at least five people, Spanish media reported.

At least eight residents were injured by the morning blast near Palencia's cathedral, a spokesman for the emergency services said.

One seriously injured six-year-old girl was airlifted to hospital in nearby Salamanca.

The spokesman gave no death toll. Local media reported at least five people were killed. The explosion's shockwave blew out windows in a 200-metre radius.

''There was a huge explosion. It has blown out the shutters and the windows. It was horrible,'' one woman told state television.

Palencia is 240km north of Madrid. Television news showed rescue workers crawling over the rubble of the flattened building that looked like a bomb site, carrying out bodies on stretchers.

Authorities said they did not know how many people were at home when the blast ripped through apartments at 5:47 a.m. (0817 hrs IST). Spain is celebrating the May Day public holiday today which meant many people could be away.

State television quoted firemen as saying a gas leak was the likely cause of the blast in the 30- or 40-year-old building.

REUTERS KD KN1437