Witnesses have posted numerous photos on Twitter, which showed three floors of the building had been damaged. Some users suggested there might have been a gas explosion.
#verviers #hodimont #gaz? pic.twitter.com/YySPKPofTDโ Theate Cedric (@TheateC) December 13, 2015
At least five people have been injured in the incident, the RTL TV channel reported, adding that firefighters are currently working at the scene.
#Verviers pic.twitter.com/FHBXUuDoKSโ achouu (@achouak96) December 13, 2015
"The neighboring houses were affected. Firefighters must first secure the area and will search the rubble," Muriel Targnion, the town's mayor, said.
Residents of nearby building have been evacuated, RTL added.
Verviers, a town of about 55,000 people, has recently appeared in the headlines in connection with the mastermind of the Paris terror attacks in November.
Abdelhamid Abaaoud was one of the leaders of a terrorist cell in the town. During a raid on the cell in January 2015, two of its members were killed.
Abaaoud himself was killed during anti-terrorist raids in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis in November.
Comment: There seem to have been a number of bizarre explosions around the world lately. Frequently blamed on gas or electrical transformers malfunctioning, could they be related to other bizarre electrical and seismic phenomena we've been experiencing around the world?