At least 12 people have died in domestic gas explosions in the past five years in Great Britain and 178 more have been injured amid concern at the risk posed by corroding service pipes, some laid at the time of the second world war.
It will take time to determine the cause of the fatal blast in Birmingham that obliterated a semi-detached house. But leaking gas from the service pipes that carry gas the last few yards to our homes has been established as the cause of some other explosions that have killed, injured and reduced homes to rubble.
