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Ammon News - One person has been killed and about a dozen are missing after an explosion on Saturday at an apartment block in Jersey in the Channel Islands.

Emergency services arrived at the scene in St Helier in the south of the island following the blast, which occurred at about 4am local time (8am UAE time).

Police chief Robin Smith said firefighters were called to the area the night before after residents said they smelt gas.

On Saturday, Mr Smith said the blast was "devastating" and that there could be more fatalities.

"We have a three-storey building that has completely collapsed — described from a demolition point of view as a pancake that has dropped almost straight down," he said.

"There is also damage to a nearby building, another block of flats that the fire service needs to make safe. It is a pretty devastating scene, I regret to say."

When asked how many people were thought to be missing, he said it was "hard to properly assess the numbers" given the destruction of the building.

"We are looking in the region of around a dozen, currently," he said.

"That number could fluctuate, but that's the number we're operating to."

He said there "has to be a recognition that we could have more fatalities".

The building is managed by Andium Homes and their chief executive is "working very hard to look after" those affected, Mr Smith said.

He said police would investigate "whether or not there was a safety issue" regarding gas supplies.

The search and rescue operation could take several days.

"It is a pretty devastating scene. The scene is a very dangerous one for all of our staff," he said.

Jersey's chief minister Kristina Moore expressed condolences for the fatality and said residents displaced by the blast were being found somewhere to stay.

"This is going to take some days and we will keep everyone updated and fully informed, and we will do our very best to ensure everybody is properly looked after," she said.

The incident occurred near the harbour in St Helier.

It caps a tragic week for Jersey, a British Crown dependency not part of the United Kingdom, whose economy relies on banking, tourism and fishing.

The coastguard Friday abandoned a search for three Jersey fishermen missing for nearly 36 hours after their boat hit a freight ship.

Skipper Michael Michieli and two crew members went missing early Thursday when their 18-metre (60-foot) wooden vessel collided with the Commodore Goodwill off Jersey.

The fishing boat, L'Ecume II, sank in about 40 metres of water, too deep for divers to search without specialist equipment, the Jersey Coastguard said.

Fisherman William Jackson said he had known Michieli since he was child.

"He's probably one of the most prominent fishermen on the island and in the community," Jackson told BBC Jersey.

"I was just shocked, absolutely shocked. The whole thing didn't make any sense really," he said, stressing that conditions were "perfect" when L'Ecume II had set sail.

The Commodore Goodwill, owned by Condor Ferries, remains docked in St Helier. Photographs showed large gashes on its prow.

Jersey is the largest of the Channel Islands, 20km west of the Cotentin Peninsula of France.

The island has a population of about 100,000 people.