Rescuers search rubble of Vienna building after explosion

Rescuers are searching through rubble after a suspected gas explosion caused a Vienna apartment building to partially collapse.

Firefighters search through the rubble of a exploded building in Vienna, Austria on Wednesday 26 June 2019. Source: AAP/Ronald Zak

An apartment building in Vienna partially collapsed in an explosion on Wednesday, leaving one person with life-threatening injuries and others feared buried underneath the rubble.

A 35-year-old man who lived in one of the apartments suffered broken bones and internal injuries.

A spokesman for the city's fire brigade said authorities were working to clear a "huge pile of debris."

Members of the emergency services at the site of a partial collapsed building in Vienna Source: EPA

The focus was on a car that was buried under the rubble and is feared to contain one or two people.

The blast collapsed several floors of up to two buildings in the fourth district of the Austrian capital and is suspected to have been caused by a gas explosion, according to the city police authority.

Two people sustained serious injuries while a dozen others were slightly hurt in the accident.

Rescuers were continuing to search the building for possible further victims, a police spokesman said near the scene.

Some surrounding buildings had also been damaged and were evacuated.