Ireland petrol station blast kills nine

At least nine people have been killed in an explosion at a petrol station in County Donegal in Ireland's northwest, police said yesterday.

The Garda Siochana police force said eight people had been hospitalised and that it "can now confirm nine fatalities as a result of this incident" in the village of Creeslough.

The cause of the explosion remained unknown and police had yet to announce the launch of an inquiry as the search through rubble went on.

Rescue efforts by Ireland's emergency services went on through the night after the blast on Friday ripped through a petrol station forecourt and a nearby apartment complex.

An aerial photograph taken after the explosion showed the petrol station building destroyed. Two two-storey residential buildings behind had collapsed.