Building collapse kills 9 - Pakistan Explosion

[dArKeR]

Islamabad - At least nine people were killed and 16 injured on Wednesday when a three-storey building was destroyed by an explosion in the Pakistani garrison city of Rawalpindi, police officials said.

"Nine people have died, the victims were mostly shopkeepers or people living in the building" city police chief Iftikhar Ahmed said.

He said 16 people had been admitted to the hospital, where the condition of several injured was "critical."

The debris has been cleared, he said.

Police and witnesses said the explosion caused by bursting of a gas cylinder was so massive that the entire structure collapsed.

http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_1515613,00.html

I wonder how witnesses could be close enough to see inside a building which explosion was so massive the entire building was totally destroyed?

[demdave]

1. Where does it say..close enough to see inside a building?

People who work in the same neighborhood sometimes know each other and what is inside their businesses. I have no idea what the massive gas cylinder was used for, but it very well could have been known to the surrounding merchants. It had to be installed, filled and serviced at some times.