An 'explosion' in Newcastle which left almost 150 homes without electricity was sparked by a build-up of water, it has been revealed.
A huge emergency service response descended on the commercial premises off Shields Road, in Byker, from approximately 1030pm on Saturday night (October 22) where a building had been left a gaping hole in the wall with rubble strewn across the ground.
The incident caused around 146 households to lose electricity overnight with power reinstalled at around 6am on Sunday morning.
Read more: Newcastle 'explosion' sparks huge emergency service response leaving homes without power
Despite reports from members of the public of an 'explosion', the Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service have confirmed that a 'loud bang' may have instead been caused by water which had built up over a long period of time in the building.
The brigade have said that this likely caused the structure to become weak until the roof and wall gave way.
A Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said: “On Saturday (22nd October) night just before 10:30pm we received a call reporting a suspected explosion at a building on Fossway in Byker.
“Two crews, one from Byker and one from Wallsend Community Fire Station, were on scene in a matter of minutes to assess the situation.
“Upon arrival, our crews found that the roof and wall of a derelict building had been significantly damaged due to a build-up of water.
“The water had built up over a long period of time causing the structure to become weak until the roof and wall gave way. This may have made a loud noise but we do not believe there to have been an explosion.
“There were no people present during the incident and after checking the rest of the building for structural damage, our crews left the scene in the hands of the council at 12:10am.”
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