Explosion tears through apartment buildings in Sweden

Swedish police said an explosion has ripped through two apartment buildings in the city of Linkoping. The blast shattered windows and destroyed balconies.

An explosion damaged two adjacent apartment buildings in the southern Swedish city of Linkoping on Friday, police said.

The explosion blew out windows and destroyed balconies in the buildings in the central city, about 175 kilometers (108 miles) southwest of Stockholm. One of the buildings had five stories, while the other had four floors.

“Police are investigating what happened. It is not known whether anyone has been injured,” police said.

A spokeswoman at Linkoping University Hospital told Reuters news agency that several people had been taken to hospital after the incident.

Police said a bomb squad had been deployed to the area after blast, which occurred shortly after 0700 UTC.

Several blocks around the area had been cordoned off but that there were no plans to evacuate residents, police said.

The cause of the blast was not immediately known.