Six people were killed and 55 injured last night in an explosion at a packed shopping mall in Finland that caused part of the building to collapse.
Police believe a bomb may have caused the blast.
Officers initially suspected the explosion was caused by gas cylinders used by shops at the mall in Vantaa, a suburb north of the capital, Helsinki.
But Mr Jyrki Karjalainen, director of City Con which manages the mall, said there normally should not have been any gas cylinders or containers in the building.
Victims of the blast were taken to several hospitals in the region.
"This is the most serious accident since World War Two in Helsinki," said Mr Eero Hirvensalo, a physician at Helsinki University Central Hospital, adding that 12 were severely injured.
Police bomb squads with sniffer dogs were surveying the area, which was expected to be cordoned off for several days.
The explosion occurred near a spiral staircase between the second and third floors of the glass-covered three-story Myyrmanni shopping mall, which was packed with up to 2,000 shoppers at the time of the blast.
"There was a terrible explosion. My ears were completely blocked up," said bystander Orvokki Neuvonen. "Glass fell down from the third floor and children and parents were in total panic when they saw the injured people."
"Children were weeping and screaming in panic. Mothers were screaming. Among the shattered glass were injured and unconscious people," she said.
AP