Five killed in German house blast

A neighbour was amongst those killed by the blast

BERLIN, Germany (Reuters) -- Five people have been killed in a gas explosion that destroyed a house in east Germany.

Police said firemen and gas workers had been called to the house in the town of Eisenhuettenstadt to investigate a smell of gas when the explosion occurred.

German television reported that four emergency workers were killed and the fifth was a 17-year-old neighbour. Two others were injured.

The explosion, believed to be caused by natural gas, completely destroyed the front of the one-family home in the town near the Polish border east of Berlin.

Authorities digging through the rubble, parts of which were still burning long after the blast, found the bodies of the five victims during the night.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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