Explosion in Seattle neighborhood injures 9

An explosion caused by a gas leak on Wednesday morning rocked a neighborhood in the U.S. northwestern city of Seattle, reportedly injuring nine firefighters.

Dozens of residents of the city's northern neighborhood of Greenwood said they were woken by the blast at around 1:40 a.m. local time (0940 GMT).

The Seattle Fire Department said on Twitter that it had dispatched 67 people to the site, including firefighters, command staff and medics.

They were responding to initial reports of a natural gas leak.

The blast took place some 40 minutes after the firefighters arrived, Seattle Fire Department spokeswoman Corey Orvold was quoted as saying by media reports.

Eight fire crew members and their battalion chief sustained minor injuries, including burns and abrasions, and were sent to Harborview Medical Center for treatment.

As part of an apartment building collapsed and windows of surrounding buildings shattered, an unknown number of residents were evacuated. There has been no report of injuries on the part of the residents. Endi