Firefighters have been praised for rescuing a casualty from the wreckage of a Sunderland home after it was destroyed in a suspected gas explosion.
At 3.46pm on Tuesday, Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service (TWFRS) received a call reporting an explosion at a home on Whickham Street in Roker.
The first crew and appliance were on the scene in just five minutes and found the terraced building, made up of a ground flat and first floor flat, had been completely torn apart.
