A child has been killed following a gas explosion which “completely wiped out” a house, leaving three others with potentially life-threatening injuries. Three people were rescued after six fire engines and around 40 firefighters raced to a terraced property in Thornton Heath, Croydon just after 7am today.
A child, whom firefighters were searching for over much of the afternoon, is understood to be dead. Three residents were taken to hospital and have potentially life-threatening injuries, it is understood.
Local residents previously claimed they feared a girl, 4, was missing, with a member of the council also saying he believed a child was inside. A total of 40 homes have been evacuated as a precaution and a 50-metre cordon is in place, added the fire service.
One resident, a 25-year-old woman, said a boy’s bedroom was by the destroyed house.
She told MyLondon : “His mum was out on the street crying ‘My boy, my boy’. They took him to hospital and we’ve heard since that he’s ok.”
Merton Council declared a major incident and confirmed the incident was a gas explosion. It said in a statement: “We are working with London Fire Brigade and the Metropolitan Police following a major incident at Galpins Road in Pollards Hill.
“Emergency services are on site following a gas explosion at a residential property, at least one property has been destroyed. We are urging people to avoid the area.”
The council added that an evacuation centre has been established. Two neighbours, Kutoya Kukanda, 50, and Delroy Simms, 62, said they helped rescue three children from the rubble, but they feared a girl aged around four or five was still trapped inside.
They believed the children’s mother had been evacuated, and said the house next door had also been badly affected by the blast. Some residents at the cordon said they had reported a strong gas smell two weeks ago, and others said they had been feeling dizzy and sick over the last two days.
Emergency services treated four people for injuries, with one discharged and three hospitalised according to Mirror Online. An LFB spokesperson said around midday: “I can confirm we are still searching for one more person within the affected property.”
A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “We have treated four people at an incident in Galpins Road, Thornton Heath. One was discharged on scene and three others were taken to hospital. We remain on scene with our emergency service colleagues.”
It is not known at this time whether anyone is still trapped in the rubble, but firefighters are continuing to search properties. A dramatic aerial image shows the roof completely destroyed and debris strewn across the street in the aftermath of the explosion.
Another photo captured the damage to shared walls of neighbouring homes. One resident who lives across the road said he woke up to a loud bang and rushed out the front door in his pyjamas to find the house had imploded.
He’s been told he can’t go back yet. The man, who has lived there for two years and didn’t want to be named, said: “I woke up so suddenly, I didn’t know what had happened.
“I opened my front door and the house was gone. There are two kids who live there but I don’t know the family. I started filming as firefighters showed up and police said I had to leave because of a gas explosion.”
Nearby residents also took to social media saying the bang from the explosion “frightened the life” out of them. They also described seeing a helicopter circling the property.
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