Tokyo, December 16: Over 40 people have sustained injuries in an explosion that took place at a restaurant in northern Japan, confirmed media reports.

The blast reportedly occurred in the city of Sapporo. The exact cause of the explosion is unknown, but people have been tweeting about the incident and various reasons are doing rounds.

"Izakaya near the intersection of Hiragishi subway station seems to have exploded. The store was crushed. Now that the flame is rising, so that there is a risk of explosion and not approaching," said a tweet. Check the tweet below:

Another picture of the smoke that has been largely controlled, said this tweet below:

However, injuries were reported and people were taken to hospital, as this tweet showed below:

The explosion took place in the area near to a metro station which is about 50 meters away from the place of explosion. The area hosts many popular shops, eateries, bars, and cultural places.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 16, 2018 09:09 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).