VANCOUVER -- An explosion and fire ripped through two shops and damaged at least four others on a major Vancouver street early today.
Vancouver police are investigating the site at 686 West Broadway as a crime scene, but fire investigators say they suspect a gas leak caused the blast that rocked the area at around 2:30 this morning.
Investigators suspect the explosion occurred in a small taco restaurant, destroying it and an adjoining Starbucks outlet.
Stewart Ross was on a passing bus and says there was a huge bang followed by a tongue of flame that shot out into the street.
No serious injuries have been reported but the concussion from the blast blew out the front windows of a drug store across the street and levelled a bus shelter .
It also shattered the glass in a room at a nearby Holiday Inn -- leaving the guest shaken but unhurt.
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