Woman dies after Swiss apartment block blast
55-year-old victim succumbs to injuries after Neuchatel apartment explosion
A woman injured when an explosion ripped through an apartment in northwestern Switzerland died on Wednesday, a day after the blast, police said.
Four people were in the residential building in Neuchatel when the explosion happened in a first-floor apartment shortly before noon (1000 GMT) on Tuesday.
Three of them had been taken in for medical checks, but the fourth -- a 55-year-old woman who had been inside the apartment where the explosion occurred -- suffered serious injuries and was airlifted by helicopter to hospital.
"Sadly, she died on Wednesday morning from her injuries," the Neuchatel police said in a statement.
A video published by Swiss public broadcaster RTS showed flames and thick, black smoke pouring from the windows of a first-floor apartment, with significant damage to the lower part of the building's facade.
Police said extensive technical and forensic investigations were on to determine the cause, adding that preliminary findings suggested it may have been "linked to the presence of gas in the apartment".
