Two people have died and others are missing after an explosion at a nursing home in the US.

Black smoke was seen rising from the nursing Home in Bristol Township, outside Philadelphia, just after 2pm local time on Tuesday after a suspected gas leak.

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro confirmed two people had died and “some number of individuals” remain missing.

A rescue operation is under way to try to locate those trapped in the building.

Images of the scene showed parts of the front of the building had completely collapsed and most of the windows were shattered.

“It is a sad and tragic evening here in Bucks County,” Mr Shapiro said during a news conference.

“An explosion occurred just a few hours ago… we believe preliminarily that it was a gas leak, the explosion was really quite catastrophic.”

Bristol Township fire chief Kevin Dippolito said parts of the first floor of the building had collapsed into the basement of the building.

He said many people were pulled out of the building by emergency services, but “specialised equipment” has been brought in to search the debris for missing people.

“We are still in rescue mode,” he said, adding: “We have not transitioned into recovery mode.”

A local disaster emergency was declared by Bristol Township manager, Randee J Mazur, who said the explosion had caused “significant structural collapse” and there was risk of further collapse.

He said the declaration would remain in place for seven days.

An investigation to confirm the cause of the explosion is ongoing, but it occurred at the same time crews from the local gas company, PECO, said it had responded to reports of a gas odour.

‘Loud kaboom’

Willie Tye, who lives close to the home, said he was watching TV when he heard a “loud kaboom”.

He said he went to look and saw “fire everywhere” and people escaping the building.

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The 174-bed nursing home, about 20 miles northeast of Philadelphia, is called Bristol Health & Rehab Centre but had been known until recently as Silver Lake Healthcare Centre.

The home’s owner, Saber Healthcare Group, said it was working with local emergency services.

A trove of newly released Epstein files include emails that appear to involve Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, while another suggests Donald Trump travelled on the billionaire’s private jet “many more times than previously has been reported”.

The US Department of Justice released at least 11,000 more files on Tuesday.

It went on to claim that some of them “contain untrue and sensationalist claims” about President Trump.

Here are some of the latest news lines from this release of Epstein files. Being named in these papers does not suggest wrongdoing.

Who is ‘The Invisible Man’?

Among the documents released is an email sent to Ghislaine Maxwell that speaks about “the girls” being “completely shattered” at a Royal Family summer camp at Balmoral.

It is dated 16 August 2001 and sent by a person referred to only as “The Invisible Man”, but whom Sky News is reporting appears to be the former prince, Andrew.

We have come to that conclusion from reviewing the email address used, which is assigned to the Duke of York in Epstein’s contacts book and the chain of correspondence.

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Andrew pictured laying on women

In the correspondence, “The Invisible Man” asks Maxwell: “How’s LA? Have you found me some new inappropriate friends?”

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has previously denied any allegations against him.

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Watch: What’s in the largest batch of Epstein files?

The Peru trip

Another email appears to show Maxwell arranging “two-legged sight seeing” for “The Invisible Man” during a trip to Peru.

She appears to forward to “The Invisible Man” part of a conversation between herself and another person.

The email says: “I just gave Andrew your telephone no. He is interested in seeing the Nazca lines. He can ride but it is not his favorite sport ie pass on the horses.”

“Some sight seeing some 2 legged sight seeing (read intelligent pretty fun and from good families) and he will be very happy. I know I can rely on you to show him a wonderful time and will only introduce him to friends that you can trust,” Maxwell said.

The context of the email is unclear and there is no suggestion of any wrongdoing.

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Trump on Epstein’s jet?

The latest bunch of files also includes an email from an unidentified prosecutor dated 7 January, 2020, in which President Trump is mentioned.

The email accuses him of travelling on Epstein’s private jet “many more times than previously has been reported”.

It adds that President Trump “is listed as a passenger on at least eight flights between 1993 and 1996, including at least four flights on which Maxwell was also present”.

The email’s sender and receiver have been redacted. However, at the bottom of the email it says assistant US attorney, Southern District of New York. The name has also been redacted.

President Trump has denied any wrongdoing in relation to his relationship with Epstein, and being on any of Epstein’s flights does not indicate any wrongdoing.

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Limousine driver report about Trump

One of the documents in the release shows a report made to the FBI that was recorded on 27 October 2020.

It includes an unverified claim by a limousine driver that he overheard the US president discussing “abusing some girl” in 1995.

The driver also mentions Trump said “Jeffrey” while on the phone during a journey to Dallas Fort Worth Airport in Texas.

A significant part of the statement, along with the driver’s identity, has been redacted.

The US justice department has said that some of the documents in the latest Epstein files release “contain untrue and sensationalist claims made against President Trump that were submitted to the FBI right before the 2020 election”.

“To be clear: the claims are unfounded and false, and if they had a shred of credibility, they certainly would have been weaponized against President Trump already,” it said.

Postcard mentions ‘our president’

Also among the documents is a postcard that claims to have been sent by Jeffrey Epstein, but has been refuted by the justice department.

In it, the sender tells the recipient: “Our president also shares our love of young, nubile girls.”

It’s not clear who “our president” refers to and the context of the postcard is also unclear.

The US justice department initially said it was “looking into the validity” of the postcard but later said on X that the “FBI has confirmed” the postcard is “FAKE”.

It cited reasons including a claim that the writing does not appear to match Epstein’s and another that the letter was postmarked three days after his death.

Row over unreleased documents

It is believed that many files relating to Epstein are yet to be made public.

There has been anger at the justice department’s slow release of the files, with politicians threatening to launch legal action against Attorney General Pam Bondi.

The deadline for the release of all the documents has passed.

“The DOJ needs to quit ⁠protecting the rich, powerful, and politically connected,” Republican congressman Thomas Massie said.

Donald Trump has said he “hated” to see photos of Bill Clinton in the newly released Epstein files.

The former US president was in numerous images that were released by the US Department of Justice among thousands of documents related to the late paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.

In his first engagement in front of the media since the release of the latest files, Mr Trump was asked about the images of Mr Clinton.

“I think it’s terrible,” Mr Trump said, adding: “I like Bill Clinton… and I hate to see photos come out of him.

“I’ve always gotten along with Bill Clinton. I’ve been nice to him, he’s been nice to me. I hate to see photos come out of him, but this is what the Democrats, mostly Democrats and a couple of bad Republicans, are asking for.

“So they are giving photos of me to. Everybody was friendly with this guy [Epstein], either friendly or not friendly.

“He was all over Palm Beach and other places… and Bill Clinton was a friend of his, but everybody was.”

He added: “Bill Clinton’s a big boy. He can handle it, but you probably have pictures being exposed of other people that innocently met Jeffrey Epstein years ago.”

The US president claimed the release of the files “is a way of trying to deflect from the tremendous success that the Republican Party has”.

Clinton calls for release of ‘any remaining materials’

In a statement on Monday, Angel Urena, a spokesman for Mr Clinton, called for Mr Trump to “release any remaining materials referring to mentioning or containing a photograph of Bill Clinton”.

The spokesman said the materials released so far “makes it clear someone or something is being protected” but said Mr Clinton doesn’t need such protection.

“Refusal to do so will confirm the widespread suspicion the Department of Justice’s actions to date are not about transparency, but about insinuation – using selective releases to imply wrongdoing about individuals who have already been repeatedly cleared by the very same Department of Justice, over many years under presidents and attorney generals of both parties,” the spokesperson added.

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The context around the photos, that were released hours before a legal deadline in the US following the passing of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, is unknown.

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The same release only features one picture with Mr Trump’s name in it.

Mr Clinton has denied any wrongdoing in connection to Epstein and says he regrets meeting him.

Backlash over release of files

It comes as other Democrats and Republicans have grown angry over the length of time it is taking the US Department of Justice to release all files in the Epstein case.

Several victims of Epstein told Sky News that the incomplete release left them feeling shocked, outraged and disappointed.

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Republican representative Thomas Massie and Democratic representative Ro Khanna said they are working together on an effort to secure the release of more files, and if necessary would seek contempt of Congress charges against Attorney General ​Pam Bondi.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer also introduced legislation that would instruct Majority Leader John
Thune, a Republican, to undertake “appropriate” legal steps to gain Congress access to all ‍the documents covered by
legislation that was passed by Congress and signed into law by Mr Trump.

It was not clear whether his effort might advance in the Senate when it returns on 5 January.