A woman has been seriously injured after an explosion ripped through a suburban house today.
The woman, aged in her early 50s, was inside her end of terrace home in Bournemouth, Dorset, when the suspected gas blast happened.
The blast was so big it rocked several neighbouring homes.
"There was a massive explosion. All our neighbours immediately came out of our houses to see what had happened," a neighbour said.
"I've heard her windows and doors were blown out. She was found under the rubble. My neighbour ran out of his house with a fire extinguisher and he went into her house to help. He said her sofa was on fire. It's just really awful."
The woman was taken by ambulance to hospital. The nature of her injuries and severity are not yet known.
It is believed she was rescued from under rubble by the hero neighbour, who rushed into the burning building and doused the flames in the lounge area with a fire extinguisher.
Several neighbours were evacuated from their homes as a precaution and a cordon put in place.
A spokesperson for the South Western Ambulance NHS Foundation Trust said: "We were called at 9.53am to an incident in the Muscliffe area.
"We sent a double-crew land ambulance, air ambulance, critical care car, operations officer and doctor. One individual was taken by land ambulance to Southampton General Hospital."
Footage posted on social media shows the 1980s red-brick house largely intact but with its windows and doors blown out. Debris is scattered across a wide area outside, with a window roller-blind wedged up a tree.
One neighbour said: "There was a massive explosion. All our neighbours immediately came out of our houses to see what had happened.
"I've heard her windows and doors were blown out. She was found under the rubble. My neighbour ran out of his house with a fire extinguisher and he went into her house to help.
"He said her sofa was on fire. It's just really awful."
Katie Lobban, spokesperson for gas network company SGN, said: "Following reports of an explosion in Gunville Crescent, Bournemouth, our engineers joined the emergency services on site earlier this morning.
"We understand the homeowner who was in the house at the time has been taken to hospital, our thoughts are with them.
"It's too early to speculate as to what has happened, and we are working closely with the authorities to help discover the cause. Our engineers are carrying out essential checks to make the situation safe for the local community."
