MOSCOW (Reuters) - A gas explosion in an apartment building in western Moscow injured five people on Thursday, including a U.S. diplomat, the Interfax news agency reported.

The U.S. Embassy confirmed in a statement that one of its diplomats had been injured in the explosion, but said no other details were immediately available.

The explosion damaged several apartments in a building on Kutuzovsky Prospect, one of Moscow's major thoroughfares, and residents were temporarily evacuated, the Itar-Tass news agency reported a police source as saying.

Police said the explosion had been caused by natural gas.

(Reporting by Thomas Grove; Editing by Kevin Liffey)