Rescuers can no longer find survivors at the scene of the Jersey fire

LONDON (AP) — Rescuers searching the scene of an explosion at an apartment block on the English Channel island of Jersey said on Sunday they expected to recover more bodies after the death of three people. A dozen people are still missing.

Jersey Police Chief Robin Smith said specialist teams were continuing a thorough search in the area of ​​St. Helier, the island’s capital, and warned it was likely to be weeks before investigations are not completed.

An explosion destroyed a three-story building around 4 a.m. Saturday. Smith said the fire was “probably” caused by a gas explosion, but that has yet to be confirmed.

Smith said firefighters were called to the area the previous night after residents reported the smell of gas. He said police would investigate “whether or not there was a safety issue” with the natural gas lines.

Authorities said on Sunday that the search mission was now a “recovery operation” and that they no longer expected to find anyone alive.

Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands, is a self-governing dependency of the United Kingdom located off the coast of northern France in the English Channel.

Gas supplier Island Energy said it was working with firefighters to “understand exactly what happened”.