Search continues after house destroyed in gas explosion

Firefighters are still searching for residents of a house that blew up in Nottinghamshire on Saturday night.

The ‘significant’ gas explosion destroyed a terraced house in Worksop around 7.39pm, prompting an evacuation of John Street. Some neighbouring houses were damaged.

One local who was driving home from mass at the time said ‘there was a terrific bang like a very loud firework’.

They wrote on Facebook: ‘I thought the back end had blown off my car.’

Firefighters and specialist search teams were still on scene on Sunday morning ‘to account for all local residents’.

It is not yet clear if there were any casualties.

Pictures from the scene show emergency workers climbing on the rubble where the house once stood.

A neighbouring house’s roof has caved in. The street is covered in bricks and glass blown out by the blast.

Roughly 20 people have sought refuge in the Crown Place Community Centre down the road.

The fire service said: ‘The building involved in this explosion has been significantly damaged.

‘Structural engineers will be assessing the situation later today, Sunday, April 13, but people are still advised to avoid the area. This is still a major incident.’

Chief Inspector Neil Humphris, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: ‘This is major incident and emergency services will remain at the scene throughout the night.

‘Multiple properties have been evacuated as we work with our partners to respond to this incident and understand how it happened.’

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