CHIMAY, Belgium (AP) - One person was killed and at least four were injured in Belgium in an accidental explosion at a sports center near the French border.

Chimay police Chief Pierre Maton said early Friday that the blast was most likely “a gas explosion,” but an investigation into the cause was ongoing.

The blast in the town of Chimay, 75 miles south of the capital Brussels, happened just after midnight local time.

Several dozen police and firefighters were on the scene and the area had been cordoned off, but the damage was not as serious as initially feared. Windows were blown out of the two-story building, and one corner of the structure was badly damaged but there was no major collapse.

Firefighters were on the scene early Friday morning clearing the rubble and securing the building.

Police said they believed they have retrieved all the people from the rubble.

Chimay has a population of about 10,000. </s> One person has been killed and at least four injured in a suspected gas blast at a sports centre near Belgium's border with France.

Chimay police chief Pierre Maton said the blast was most likely to have been a gas explosion and an investigation into the cause was continuing.

The blast in the town, 75 miles south of the capital Brussels, happened just after midnight local time.

The area was cordoned off, but the damage was not as serious as initially feared.

Windows were blown out of the two-storey building and one corner of the structure was badly damaged, but there was no major collapse.

Firefighters were clearing the rubble and securing the building early on Friday.

Police said they believed they had retrieved all the people from the rubble.

Chimay has a population of about 10,000 and is known for one of Belgium's most famous breweries. </s> An explosion at a sports center in the southern Belgian town of Chimay early on Friday killed one person and wounded four others, two of them seriously, Belgium's Crisis Center said.

"It is probably a gas explosion," an official at the agency told Reuters, adding that there was no indication of it being a militant attack.

Local media reported the blast occurred just after midnight local time, 6 p.m. ET, at a sports center known as Le Chalon in Chimay, close to the French border, when five people were still inside the building.

Part of the building was destroyed. Belgium and France, along with the rest of Europe, have been on high alert after ISIS-attacks in Paris and Brussels over the past year. </s> An explosion has destroyed half of a sports centre in Belgium, with reports at least one person has died and four have been injured, two seriously.

The blast happened shortly after midnight at a complex known as Le Chalon in the southern municipality of Chimay, on the border with France.

Chimay police chief Pierre Maton said early on Friday that the blast was most likely “a gas explosion,” but an investigation into the cause was ongoing. There was no indication of it being a militant attack, officials said.

It is thought there was a total of five people in the building.

Several dozen police and firefighters attended the scene and the area had been cordoned off, but the damage was not as serious as initially feared. Windows were blown out of the two-story building, and one corner of the structure was badly damaged but there was no major collapse.

The town has a population of 10,000 and lies 120km (75 miles) south of Brussels.

A municipal stage of emergency has been declared and police have set up a security perimeter at the scene of the disaster, according to local media reports.

Belgium and France, along with the rest of Europe, have been on high alert after Islamic State attacks in Paris and Brussels over the past year. </s> PARIS – A French official says 18 people have been injured in an accidental explosion prompted by a mishandled bonfire at a town fair north of Paris.

An official with the prosecutor’s office of the Seine-Saint-Denis region said five of those injured Saturday were hospitalized with serious injuries. The blast occurred at a town carnival in Villepinte where local children and their families had gathered.

READ MORE: At least 33 injured in 3 separate float accidents at Rio’s Carnival parade

The official said the explosion was found to be accidental and the apparent result of the mishandled lighting of a bonfire to mark the end of the carnival. The official was not authorized to be publicly named.

France is in a state of emergency after Islamic extremist attacks in recent years but authorities said there was no sign of arson or terrorism in Saturday’s explosion. </s> BRUSSELS (AP) - Police say the situation is now under control after Belgian media reported that explosion-like noises have been heard at a Brussels train station, prompting evacuations of the area.

Broadcaster RTL quoted Fires Services spokesman Pierre Meys confirming that some kind of an explosion had happened in the city's Central station on Tuesday. Meys could not say what had caused the blast.

He could only confirm that firefighters were at the scene.

Brussels police said via Twitter that there was "an incident with an individual at the station. The situation is under control."

They asked the public to follow police instructions.

The Belgian capital's Grand Place, a major tourist site, was evacuated along with the station about 200 meters (656 feet) away.

Belgium has been on high alert since suicide bombers killed 32 people on the Brussels subway and at an airport in March 2016.

This story is developing and will continue to be updated. </s> BRUSSELS: Belgian troops patrolling Brussels Central Station "neutralised" a person after a small explosion on Tuesday (Jun 20), a police spokesman said, adding that there were no other casualties and the situation was under control.

He could not confirm media reports that the person had been wearing an explosive vest and it was not clear whether the person shot was still alive.

The station and the adjacent historic downtown area, packed with tourists and locals on a hot summer evening, was partly evacuated as police set up a security cordon, witnesses told Belgian media.

The city has been on high alert for more than 18 months since Brussels-based Islamic State militants carried out attacks in Paris that killed 130 people there in November 2015 and later bombed Brussels airport and the city's metro in March last year.

The police spokesman said: "There was an accident at Central Station. There was an explosion around a person. That person was neutralized by the soldiers that were on the scene.

"At the moment, the police are in numbers at the station and everything is under control." </s> BRUSSELS (AP) - Reports of a bomb outside Belgium’s criminal institute early Monday are probably false, the Brussels prosecutor’s office said, adding that the incident is much more likely an arson attack on a crime lab.

“It’s probably not terrorism. It’s a criminal act,” said spokeswoman Ine Van Wymersch. “I cannot confirm that there was any bomb.”

State broadcaster RTBF and other outlets reported that a car drove through a security barrier at the site about 2 a.m., followed by an explosion that caused significant damage to the facility on Brussels’ north side. Nobody was injured.

The institute assists and advises Belgium’s justice authorities in carrying out their investigations.

Belgium has been on high alert since coordinated March 22 suicide bomb attacks on the Brussels airport and subway killed 32 people. </s> Blast leaves one dead, several injured in Colombia's capital Bogotá

An explosion in Colombian capital killed one person and injured several, Sputnik reported.

An explosion in the Centro Andino shopping center in Colombia's capital of Bogotá killed one person and injured eleven. Bogota Mayor Enrique Penalosa announced that it was a terrorist attack.

"A coward terrorist attack in Centro Andino hurts me. There is one woman dead and… 11 injured," Penalosa wrote on Twitter.

Penalosa also said that the victim was a 23-year-old French woman.
An explosion at a sports centre in the Belgian town of Chimay kills one person and injures another four. A gas explosion is suspected to be the cause.