An explosion at a mall in a suburb of the Australian city of Perth has killed two people and injured three others, authorities said Tuesday.
The blast Tuesday morning at the Galleria mall in Morley sparked a fire that emergency crews put out.
The cause of the explosion is under investigation, said Western Australia Police spokesman Adam Brauwer, declining to provide details.
The Australia Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported that a power transformer was believed to have exploded.
The broadcaster cited witnesses who saw men in flames running out of the building.
“I thought a car had exploded, petrol … but it was a lot worse than that, it was the worst sight I had seen in my entire life,” Harry Barugh told the ABC.
Another witness, Jonathon McDonagh, said he initially thought the chaotic scene was a joke as he drove into the mall’s parking lot.
“But then I saw the doorway they came running from and I knew straight away — power station — something had to have happened,” he told the broadcaster.
All the victims were men, police said.