Wednesday, February 05, 2014

Ten injured after explosion at Essex house

Ten people were injured in a suspected gas explosion that virtually destroyed two houses on a street in Clacton, Essex.

A man in his 70s and a woman in her 50s were badly burnt in the fire that followed and were flown by an air ambulance to Broomfield Hospital in what was initially described as a serious condition. Both were later said to be "stable".

Emergency services were on the scene with minutes of the blast, though some local residents had already mounted their own rescue attempts dragging victims from the wrecked houses.

Debris was strewn over a wide area and into adjacent streets damaging cars and breaking windows of several houses. A power outage also forced the local school to close. Police evacuated several homes close to the scene though most were allowed to return later in the day.

Fearing there might be others buried beneath the rubble Search and Rescue teams scoured the scene with dogs. Fortunately no further people were found.

All the emergency services described it a miracle that no-one was killed. Meanwhile late into Wednesday evening Essex police were continuing to work with Essex County Fire & Rescue Service to establish the cause of the explosion.

BBC / Guardian / Telegraph / D Mail / Mirror / Daily Star / Express

tvnewswatch, Clacton, Essex

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