A woman was killed and seven people were injured late on Wednesday when a gas cylinder exploded in a souvlaki restaurant in Nea Smyrni, southern Athens.

Police said the blast, which occurred shortly before midnight, completely destroyed the restaurant and damaged surrounding stores and cars parked within a radius of tens of meters.

Sources said that one of the people injured was former Greek national team basketball player Liveris Androutsos. The ex-athlete is believed to have been hurt as he helped pull some of the victims out of the burning building.

Two of the seven hurt were in critical condition, according to doctors. The dead woman was not named.

The exact conditions behind the accident are not clear, as authorities have yet to obtain evidence from all of the people injured in the accident.