Leicester Blast: 4 People Died and 4 Injured in Massive Explosion in UK (PHOTOS + VIDEO)
Four people have died and many were injured in an explosion at a shop on Sunday night, Feb. 25 in Leicester, UK.
Keep on reading to know more.
What we know so far
As it was reported a major explosion destroyed a shop on Hinckley Road, Leicester, just after 7pm on Sunday night.
Ambulance officials said four people were injured, two critically.
Four more people have died, police said and there may yet be more people unaccounted for.
Source: South West News Service
As for Monday, fire crew still working to find survivors who may be trapped in “voids” inside the collapsed building.
“When you look at the pictures of the building it looks incredibly unlikely that we would find anybody but we are absolutely committed to search and rescue at this stage,” Matt Cane, group manager at Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service said.
“There is a possibility that there could be voids and areas of the building where people could still be alive following the collapse.”
Breaking news. Live at the scene https://t.co/gitedpmXLi pic.twitter.com/Q52La5akL9
— Leicester Media (@Leicestermedia) 25 лютого 2018 р.
Matt Cane told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme firefighters would use search and rescue dogs to look for any survivors throughout Monday.
At this stage the explosion is not being linked to terrorism, officials said.
Source: South West News Service
Heroic passers-by clawed away flaming debris with their bare hands as they dragged victims to safety.
Source: South West News Service
Witnesses statements
Kat Pattison, who lives nearby, said: “There was a huge bang and the whole house shook. If there had been no bang, I would have thought it was an earthquake. I couldn’t believe it.
“It looks like the fire is burning under control but there’s still a lot of smoke. The shop would have still been open so it’s awful. I will be really surprised if anyone has come out of it alive and people could have also been hurt at the bus stop. We checked on our children first and foremost and then we went outside.”
She added that the shop on fire was usually open until about 9pm on a Sunday.
Source: South West News Service
Tahir Khan, a witness, said: “I was driving past when it happened. Loads of people were gathered and there was gas and flames coming out of the building. I looked on the road and half the building was on the road. Literally the whole of the side of the building had been blown out. I couldn’t believe it, it was like a Hollywood movie.”
Source: PA WIRE/PA IMAGES
John Alexander, a BBC journalist, said: “I live about 80 yards away from where it happened. I felt a tremor, what felt like an earthquake shock, and I heard a very low boom that sounded like a very, very fast release of pressure.
“I thought my house was going to fall down on top of me and all my neighbors have said the same thing. I saw one guy get pulled out and he’ll be very lucky if he wasn’t killed.”
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