Several people have been injured after a warehouse in Takatsuki, Osaka Prefecture, was engulfed in flames on Saturday night.

Three men have been taken to hospital with severe injuries, according to the city's fire department which started receiving emergency calls around 8:10 p.m. Witnesses reported hearing a large blast, but other details were not immediately available.

Efforts are being made to locate a man who was also believed to be at the scene, local police said.

The warehouse is located in an area where factories and other industrial facilities stand along the Yodo River about 2.5 kilometers west of Korien Station of Keihan Electric Railway Co.

The police have cordoned off the area near the burning warehouse as well as a nearby bridge, warning residents there may be another explosion.

"The windows and plates broke as we heard the blast," said a man in his 30s working at a noodle shop near the site.

"We hurried outside and saw flames shooting 3 to 4 meters high, and the air filled with black smoke," he added.

Shingo Kubode, a 46-year-old local resident, said, "We were eating dinner when there was a large noise and we felt a large shake as if there was an earthquake."

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