Six dead, two missing after gas explosion in Poland

Six people, including two children, were killed and another two were reported missing after a gas explosion destroyed a house in a ski resort in the south of Poland late Wednesday, local authorities said.

Around 100 firefighters were still scouring the debris of the house in Szczyrk on Thursday morning in search of possible survivors.

"We're still hoping for a miracle," local prefect Jaroslaw Wieczorek told reporters.

He said that two of the bodies recovered were children and the other four were adults.

Eight people were believed to have been in the house when the explosion occurred, he added.

The local gas distributor, PSG, said that the explosion had been preceded by a sudden drop in pressure in the gas pipeline, which could indicate that the pipeline had been accidentally punctured during nearby construction works.