Building partially destroyed by large explosion in Madrid's city centre

We are trying to locate a volunteer who works with us, ' the vicar general told the broadcaster. A reporter for TVE public broadcaster said several had been injured, without giving details.

The building was a complex that provided residential training for priests and also gave meals to homeless people, a neighbour said. The Madrid general vicar, Avelino Revilla, told Spain's TVE that one person linked to the Catholic church occupying part of the building was still missing.

Madrid Mayor Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida told reporters at the scene it seemed that "there was a gas explosion in the building".

Emergency services could not immediately confirm if there had been injuries.

The school nearby was empty, according to converging sources, because classes had not resumed yet following a record snowfall in Madrid.

Firefighters, police and specialized emergency workers were at the scene and and the surrounding area was evacuated.

Mr Martínez-Almeida said the cause was not confirmed, but it is suspected to have been due to a gas leak.

A strong explosion rocked a building in central Madrid on Wednesday, witnesses said, with images from Spanish television and the emergency services showing the street covered in debris.

Images and footage shared on social media showed a tower of smoke coming out of the six-storey building and rubble scattered on Toledo Street near the city centre. "I heard and felt the explosion but didn't know where it came from", said local Isabel Romero, whose eight-year-old son is a student at a school next to the building where the explosion occurred. Spain's public broadcaster, TVE, said the school was thought to have been empty because classes had not resumed yet following a record snowfall in Madrid on January 9. We went up the stairs to the top of our building and we could see the structure of the building and lots of grey smoke, ' the 24-year-old Madrid resident said.