(29 Apr 2013)
1. Mid of sniffer dog jumping out from damaged building and walking beside handler
2. Mid of blown-out window
3. Wide of debris and emergency crew
4. Emergency crew outside damaged building, sniffer dog jumping into building
5. Tracking shot of Prime Minister of Czech Republic, Petr Necas arriving at blast scene
6. Mid of police officer, blast site in background
7. SOUNDBITE (Czech) Petr Necas, Czech Republic Prime Minister:
"It was really depressing, the damage on the building and surroundings, it's really immense and huge, almost like after an air assault or a bomb explosion. So, if we really prove what we think right now, that nobody died, it was very lucky."
8. Wide of emergency service personnel at blast site
9. Emergency workers removing debris as seen through stone railing
10. Mid of emergency workers at site of blast
11. Pull out from mid of sniffer dog jumping from window to wide of scene at blast site
STORYLINE:
The Prime Minister of the Czech Republic said that it was "very lucky" that nobody died as a result of the powerful blast, believed to be a gas explosion, that ripped open an office building in the centre of Prague on Monday.
The explosion injured at least 35 people sending shockwaves through the Old Town, a popular tourist destination.
However, authorities fear several people are buried under the rubble.
The blast shattered windows in the district of charming streets and postcard-pretty buildings and left tourists stranded on street corners with loaded baggage trolleys, unable to get into their hotels.
An AP Television cameraman filming at the time of the blast said the physical impact could be felt on the famed 15th-century Charles Bridge, which was packed with tourists.
The blast occurred on Divadelni Street at about 10 am (8 am GMT), in a of a row of tall brick buildings dating back about a century.
The street was covered with rubble and quickly sealed off by police, who evacuated people from nearby buildings and closed a wide area around the explosion site.
Prime Minister Petr Necas later arrived to survey the scene.
"It was really depressing, the damage on the building and surroundings, it's rely immense and huge, almost like after an air assault or a bomb explosion," he said.
"So, if we really prove what we think right now, that nobody died, it was very lucky," said Necas.
Among the injured were two Portuguese women, another two women from Kazakhstan, a man from Slovakia and a German women.
None of their injuries were serious according to rescue services.
Hours after the blast rescuers were still searching the rubble and using sniffer dogs with up to three people believed to be unaccounted for.
The Faculty of Social Sciences of Prague's Charles University and the Film and TV School of the Academy of Sciences of Performing Arts are located next to the damaged building, and students had to be evacuated.
Prague is a major tourist capital, visited every year by legions of students, backpackers and others from around the world.
In 2012, a total of 5.4 (m) million people visited the city as tourists, with a large majority those from outside the country - many from Germany, Russia and the United States.
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