CITY BLAST
Huge fireball explosion rocks Milan city centre leaving several cars on fire as nursery school and care home evacuated
A HUGE explosion has rocked the Italian city of Milan after a van carrying oxygen tanks reportedly ignited.
Cops have evacuated a nearby nursery and nursing home following the blast which sent black smoke pouring over the Italian city.
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The blast took place in the Porta Romana area in the southeast of Milan at around midday local time.
At least four people have been injured, including one victim who suffered burns to his hand.
A tall column of smoke is visible for several kilometres around.
Italian media reports that the truck carrying the oxygen tanks was parked on a street corner when it exploded, triggering a blast that set a further eight vehicles on fire.
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The blaze is spreading towards nearby apartments on the street and a pharmacy.
Cops have cordoned off the area on Via Pier Lombardo where the blast shook the street, just over a mile southeast of Milan's iconic Duomo cathedral.
Sharing footage of the dramatic fire, Denise Pedicillo wrote: "Explosion on Via Pier Lombardo. Keep the windows closed."
It comes after at least ten emergency workers were injured in an explosion in Ratingen, Germany after being sent to a distress call at an apartment block.
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Cops and firefighters were breaking down a door in the high-rise building in the North Rhein-Westphalia region of the country when the horror blast happened.
Petrol had been spilt in the apartment, which fuelled the blast as officers burst through the door, according to the German publication .
The outlet reports the explosion may have been deliberate.
A man is believed to have detonated an unidentified object at the high-rise building when police arrived.
At least ten people have been injured and eight are in a critical condition, according to local news outlet ZDF.
Gunshots have also been heard coming from the high-rise apartment, according to several witnesses.
Video shows police snipers approaching the apartment building in the small town in the North Rhine-Westphalia region of Germany, around 12km northeast of Dusseldorf.
Further footage from the ground by a reporter for Bild includes the sound of gunshots.
Reports claim a suspect is holed up in the top-floor apartment while smoke can be seen pouring from the windows.
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