Loud explosion rocks Madrid; rescue teams on site

MADRID — Madrid’s emergency services say rescue teams, firefighters and police are working in a central area of the Spanish capital following an explosion that witnesses described as “extremely loud.”

Videos and images shared on social media show a tower of smoke coming out from a building and rubble scattered in a central street of Madrid. Spanish public broadcaster TVE says the explosion took place in a building near a nursing home.

Leire Reparaz, who lives near the Puerto de Toledo, a local landmark, tells The Associated Press that she heard a loud explosion.

“We didn’t know where the sound came from. We all thought it was from the school. We went up the stairs to the top of our building and we could see the structure of the building and lots of gray smoke,” the 24-year-old Madrid resident says.