Thursday, March 28

One dead after gas explosion at block of flats in Bedford | uknews


At least one person has died and three others have been taken to hospital after what was described as an “inferno” in a block of flats, Bedfordshire police said.

Ch Supt John Murphy said it was possible more deaths will be discovered in the coming days as emergency services search the scene.

Two people were seriously injured, one died, and a firefighter suffered smoke inhalation after a gas explosion at the block of flats in Redwood Grove in Bedford.

“Very sadly we know that at least one person has passed away in the explosion today,” Murphy said. “There is a possibility that there will be more fatalities discovered in the coming days as we continue to search through the scene and a number of people, as my colleague from the fire services has identified, were injured as well today.”

Unverified footage shared on social media showed flames erupting from the flats as firefighters tackled the blaze.

Bedfordshire police said the explosion triggered a “significant fire” at the three-storey block of 20 properties, which engulfed the whole building and caused a large portion of the roof to collapse.

“Police, fire and the ambulance service all remain in attendance [at the flats],” said Bedfordshire police.

“We know people are keen to help, but would ask people to avoid the area and keep any doors and windows closed.”

The police force said an emergency assistance center had been set up by Bedford council at the nearby John Bunyan center for people who had been evacuated.

It added: “An adjacent block of flats has also been evacuated and we are working as quickly as we can to get people back into their homes as quickly as possible.”

Also Read  Soros says civilization may not survive Russia's Ukraine invasion

Bedfordshire fire and rescue service said the fire was caused by a major gas explosion. It said in a statement: “There are currently six appliances, two water carriers [and] an incident command unit at the scene. Please avoid the area and keep windows and doors closed.”

The incident comes just over a week after a gas explosion in Kingstanding, Birmingham, which killed a 79-year-old woman.

One witness claimed they saw a person jump from a second-floor window to escape the burning building. “I heard the explosion from my house round the corner,” the eyewitness, who wished to remain anonymous, told the PA Media news agency.

“I walked to town and saw the flames and also witnessed someone jump from the second-floor window whilst flames were blaring out.”

Adam Fisher, 37-year-old sales worker whose office is nearby, said: “A huge explosion heard – everyone went to our work car park to see what was happening.

“Our building is adjacent to the apartment complex – immediately an inferno [was] visible, huge smoke cloud billowing, people screaming and people frantically calling for emergency services.”

On 26 June a gas explosion destroyed a house and seriously damaged three others in Kingstanding.

Doreen Rees-Bibb was killed in the explosion while her partner, who was pulled alive from the rubble by neighbors, was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries.


www.theguardian.com

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *