At least 25 injured in German apartment block blast

Rescue helicopters are taking the seriously injured to hospitals

blankenburg Blankenburg apartmen block | Twitter

At least 25 people were injured in an explosion in an apartment block in the eastern German city of Blankenburg on Friday, police said. The police also added that the cause of the blast wasn't known yet. 

An image tweeted by the police showed the five-storey communist-era building with blackened windows on the second floor and smoke rising from it. Residents were being evacuated from the block where the explosion had occurred, spokesman Uwe Becker said. 

Rescue helicopters are taking the seriously injured to hospitals while teams are searching for people who might be trapped in the rubble.