Man killed as blast wrecks house

May 8 2008

One man was killed and two people were injured when an explosion tore through a suburban street.

Two homes were flattened and another was torn in half by the force of the blast that ripped through Stanley Road, in south Harrow, north west London, on Wednesday night.

Paramedics took a 26-year-old man to nearby Northwick Park Hospital suffering from serious head injuries while a 17-year-old girl was treated at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital for severe burns.

Around 30 people spent the night in emergency accommodation, Harrow Council said.

Fire crews continued to search the rubble throughout the night, using listening devices to check for signs of life.

A pile of rubble was all that was left of the house at number 19 and two flats at 21 Stanley Road.

The inside of the £300,000 house at number 23 was ripped out in the blast and only part of its adjoining wall was left standing.

National Grid, which is responsible for the gas supply system up to the point where it enters the house at the meter, remained on site throughout the night.

A spokeswoman said the pipes leading to the house had been checked and the supply isolated overnight. "We found no trace of a gas leak in our system but we will continue to have a very small presence on site," she said.

The Health and Safety Executive has said it is investigating the explosion and would send inspectors to South Harrow.