Gas leak blamed as explosion destroys Argentina tower block

Argentine firefighters found potential signs of life yesterday as they risked their own, searching through a huge pile of rubble - all that was left of a 10-storey apartment building destroyed by a gas explosion that killed 10 people, injured dozens and left 12 unaccounted for.

Two other towers, in front of and behind the one which collapsed, were heavily damaged by Tuesday's blast and fire and were in danger of collapse even as rescue efforts continued, said Marcos Escajadillo, the provincial security secretary in the city of Rosario.

With heavy equipment blocked by the towers that remain standing, firefighters were mostly working by hand, using a sensitive listening device and body-sniffing dogs to try to reach an area two storeys underground where they heard sounds that could have been from victims, he said.

Dozens of people were trapped in the upper floors of the burning building on Tuesday as a plume of smoke billowed up. Firefighters pulled people out of windows and off balconies as the bottom floors burned.

Meanwhile, a repairman and his assistant, who were working on the building's gas system moments before the blast, were in custody as investigators studied the Litoral Gas company's records and gathered testimony pointing to a potential negligence case.