TAEGU _ At least four people died while two were missing when a powerful explosion ripped through a public bathhouse here Friday.
Forty-three were injured and some were forced to evacuate naked, police and witnesses said.

The injured were rushed to nearby hospitals, some listed in critical condition, they said.

A fire engulfed the five-story building after the blast occurred in the building’s basement at around 4 p.m., the officers said. The blast was presumed to be a gas explosion.

Taegu, about 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, is South Korea’s third-largest city.

``There was a crack of thunder outside, and I saw the basement of the bathhouse building being swept by flames. People fell to the ground, and it was a sheer chaos,’’ said Lee Man-yong, who witnessed the fire from a nearby office.

Police said the explosion might have occurred in the boiler room in the basement. From the first floor in order, the building has a hair shop, a bathhouse for females, another for males, steam rooms and workout rooms.

The blast destroyed five cars parked in front of the building, shattered windows of nearby shops and disrupted traffic on streets dozens of meters away, according to police.