ATH, Belgium, July 31 (AFP) - Belgium's King Albert II on Saturday visited the scene of the deadly explosion of a high-pressure gas pipeline near the Belgian town of Ath in which 15 people died and more than 100 were injured.
Both the king and Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt had cut short their holidays on Friday in the wake of the disaster, the country's worst industrial accident in years.
Three people working at the site, located on an industrial estate, at the time of the explosion are still unaccounted for. Five local firefighters were among the dead.
Emergency services and investigators were sifting their way through the charred remains at the site, searching for clues as to the cause of the tragedy.
Verhofstadt, who visited the industrial zone on Friday, said that it was too early to say what had caused the explosion.
About 200 people were thought to have been working in the area of the pipeline when the explosion occurred, sending gigantic flames leaping dozens of metres into the sky and producing thick clouds of smoke.
The force of the initial explosion was so great that some victims were thrown hundreds of metres according to one local official, while Belgian television said debris had been found six kilometres (four miles) away.
The health ministry said that a gas leak had been detected at 8:30 am (0630 GMT) on the Ghislenghien industrial estate, home to about 30 businesses, near a motorway passing through Ath and that "when emergency services arrived, there was an explosion."
A service station also blew up, and a diamond factory under construction was destroyed.
The king was also due to meet local officials in Ath and visit a church, royal sources said.