Two killed, seven injured in Tokyo spa explosion

TOKYO: Two women were killed and seven other people were injured on Tuesday after a powerful explosion gutted part of a women-only spa complex in an up scale area off Tokyo, officials said.

Only twisted wreckage remained of an annex of the spa, with the walls and ceiling completely blown away.

The blast was reportedly caused by a gas problem in the building that supplies water to Shiespa, a spa that opened last year in Tokyo's bustling entertainment district of Shibua.

Deadly accidents are rare in Tokyo, the world's largest metropolis, where strict building codes are meant to ensure that the infrastructure can withstand frequent earthquakes.

Two women were confirmed dead in the blast, a fire department spokesman said. "They are a 20-year-old woman and another woman who is also in her 20s," he said.

A fire department spokeswoman had earlier said eight people were injured, including the two who died.

Medicos took five of the victims -- four women and one man to hospitals but the other three declined treatment, she said.

The explosion took place next to the main spa building, which is nine storeys high.