Explosion rips through Tokyo building; four injured.

An explosion ripped through a downtown Tokyo skyscraper on Monday, flinging rubble over a major crossroads and shooting smoke into the air, but the fire was quickly extinguished, according to Japanese media.

Public  said that four people were hurt, three of them critically, but all of them were conscious. The station showed footage of flames coming through the windows of the second story of the building, which was completely destroyed, in the Shinbashi neighborhood of Tokyo.

The reason of the explosion was not immediately obvious, although witnesses reported they smelled gas before the explosion.

“I’d just arrived at work and was getting ready when there was a really loud explosion, said Shinobu Nakagawa, a 26-year-old restaurant worker who works on the building’s first level. He claimed to have snatched up his phone and dashed away.

Furniture and pieces of glass were strewn about, and smoke was billowing skyward as I looked up.