Several people were injured when a building collapsed after an explosion in Hemer, Sauerland.

In addition, other people would be missing, said a police spokeswoman on Friday evening.

One person was seriously but not fatally injured, three others were slightly injured.

Two people are still under the rubble of the collapsed apartment building.

"We are in contact with the people, we talk to them and try to save them from the rubble," said a spokesman for the Hemer fire brigade in a post on the news portal "Lokalstimme.de".

Pictures showed that all that was left of the collapsed house was a mountain of rubble.

"Unfortunately, it collapsed completely, there is no stone left standing," said the fire brigade spokesman.

According to the police, the exact cause of the explosion was initially unclear, but it was probably a gas explosion.

The surrounding houses would be evacuated, the police said.

The area around the scene of the accident was cordoned off.

According to Schulte, six people are officially registered as residents in the apartment building, and a total of eight would live there.

It was unclear how many were in the house at the time of the accident.

The rescue measures were therefore difficult, according to the police, an excavator was used to move the debris.

Hemer is located near Iserlohn in the Märkisches Kreis.