At least 25 injured as blast hits apartment buildings in Sweden

A powerful explosion ripped through two adjacent apartment buildings in a southern Swedish city on Friday, slightly injuring at least 25 people, officials said. 

The cause of the blast wasn't immediately known.

The explosion blew out dozens of windows and destroyed balconies in the buildings in central Linkoping, about 175 kilometres (110 miles) southwest of Stockholm. One of the buildings has five stories, while the other has four floors.

Police said a bomb squad had been deployed to the area as a precaution after the blast, which occurred shortly after 0700 GMT (3 am EDT). The area was sealed off by police.

"As for now, we don't have any information to believe this is terror-related," police spokesman Bjorn Oberg told The Associated Press.

"Many people called in about a very powerful explosion which has led to a large number of windows being blown out," Oberg said.

"So far we have been able to confirm that there are number of people with light injuries. We have cordoned off a large area, several blocks."