BRUSSELS: An explosion injured 14 people and destroyed three residential buildings in the Belgian city of Antwerp on Monday evening, police said, stressing the incident was not the result of an attack.

Antwerp police said in the early hours of Tuesday that five people had been seriously injured and another was in a critical state after the explosion in a part of the city where many students live.

Rescue workers were still searching the rubble for further victims, the fire brigade said. A man, a woman and a child were freed after about two hours under the debris. Police said two people were missing.

Police said it was too early to be certain of the cause of the explosion. Belgian media said it was likely to have been an explosion of gas.

Belgium has been on high alert since deadly suicide bombings in 2016 and a wave of Islamist attacks across Europe.