The city's government has provided temporary homes for a dozen households after the blast on the ground floor of the building in Chaoyang district, said Beijing firefighting authorities.
Rescuers retrieved a body and found an injured elderly woman during a search of the site.
The woman later died at a hospital, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The cause of the explosion is not known. All of the injured have been sent to hospital.
Authorities have sent six works teams to help with medical treatment, accident investigation, safety inspection and verification of losses.