WARSAW (DPA) - A mother and her two children died in a gas explosion in the Polish city of Bytom, local media reported on Saturday (July 6).

Four people were injured, the news agency PAP said.

Among them was one person who had walked past the building at the time of the accident and had to be taken to hospital with severe burns by a rescue helicopter.

Two dozen residents of the house were able to get to safety unharmed.

Numerous windows were destroyed in the blast, an apartment on the ground floor burnt out completely.

According to initial investigations by the fire brigade, the stability of the building was not at risk.

The exact cause of the explosion was not known at that point.

The rescue work was made more difficult by the fact that paving work is currently being carried out on the affected road.

The city of Bytom is located in Upper Silesia about 15km north-west of Katowice.

For a long time, the town was an important centre of coal mining.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki visited the site of the blast in the industrial city, PAP reported.