By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal

LONDON

Five people were killed and another five remain in hospital on Monday following an explosion that ripped through a building in Leicester, England, on Sunday.

The explosion that demolished a shop and flats above it took place shortly after 7 p.m. local time (1900GMT), with Leicestershire Police declaring it a “major incident”.

Police cordoned off the scene and surrounding roads, asking people to avoid the area in the East Midlands city.

A police statement put the death toll at five, with five others remaining in hospital, including one seriously injured.

At the scene Monday morning emergency services searched the collapsed property and did enquiries in the area, but search and rescue efforts were later suspended.

"The rescue work at the scene of the former supermarket in Hinckley Road has been temporarily suspended due to the structural integrity of a neighbouring building, and the search and rescue work will resume shortly," a police statement said.

“It may be some days yet before we will be able to establish the probable cause of the explosion,” it said.

Police on Sunday said they believed the incident was not terror related.

"The building consisted of a shop premises on the ground level and a two-story flat above it. We believe there may be people who have not yet been accounted for and rescue efforts continue in order to locate any further casualties," Superintendent Shane O’Neill from local police said.

The explosion reduced a shop and above flats to rubble.