Neighbours of a house that exploded in Swansea have described the "terrifying" moment they heard a "horrendous" bang on Monday morning. Emergency services rushed to the junction of Field Close and Clydach Road in Morriston at around 11.20am following reports of a gas explosion.
South Wales Police have declared a major incident and closed Clydach Road. Three people have been taken to hospital and one person is unaccounted for with work ongoing to locate them. Two properties have been extensively damaged, while neighbouring houses have also been damaged.
A rest centre has been set up by the local authority to support those affected. The exact cause of the explosion is still under investigation. Alamgir Hossain, who lives just opposite the house, captured close-up footage which showed the devastating scale of the destruction.
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"Suddenly I heard a loud sound and we went out and then I saw a lot of damage to the house." The 45-year-old added his own house shook and his glasses broke during the incident. Mo Green, 70, also lives opposite the house that was impacted. She was out when the incident happened, but a neighbour called her to get back straight away. She is not allowed to go up to her home but has since seen a photo of it. "The end house is raised to the ground there’s nothing there and they are not sure if someone else is in there," she said. All her windows are broken she believes and her roof and car is damaged.
Another neighbour, Margarie Lewis, 66, described the moment her daughter, Leanne Lewis, rushed out to see what had happened. "We heard a bang which we thought was a car crash. My daughter ran out. We couldn't see anything up the road - just black smoke everywhere. She ran up and I went up behind her. [One person] was in some of the rubble, so she pulled [them] out. I phoned the police straight away and they were here within a couple of minutes."
She added: "I’ve got no electric or nothing in my house and we’ve been moved on. Everyone is feeling shock, because there's nothing left of the house. Completely nothing at the moment."
Meanwhile Leanne, 38, said the noise was "horrendous". She said: "I flew outside and saw all the debris. Myself and other residents had managed to get [one person] out. The other residents went to get [another person]...I've been sat with them for another hour and a half. It’s sad, that’s their house, gone. There was dust, rubble, glass on the windows next to the house were all blown.”
Pam Evans, another neighbour, said she heard "such a frightening, explosive noise" and at first thought her own house had been damaged. She continued: "Those of us who were in the back of the building having a meeting, we didn't know what on Earth had happened. It sounded like a bomb had been dropped, quite frankly. Terrifying, terrifying. I'd never heard or felt anything like it.
"The building shook and we all dashed out the back into the garden to check the building - has something come out of the sky? We didn't know what on Earth to make of it." But then she said she spotted smoke and realised the incident was further up the road. "It's an absolute disaster. I dashed out, I know people living in the street, I know neighbours...I could see the end house is completely gone. There's nothing. It's completely gone."
The latest statement from South Wales Police said: "Emergency services are continuing to work at the scene of an explosion on Clydach Road in Morriston that occurred around 11.20am this morning. Three people have been taken to hospital by ambulance. One person is currently unaccounted for, and work is ongoing to locate them.
"Two properties have been extensively damaged and other neighbouring properties have also been damaged. A rest centre has been set up by the local authority to support those affected. This is an ongoing incident so more detail will be provided when we have a clearer picture.
"A cordon remains in place and people are asked to avoid the area while the incident is ongoing. Clydach Road remains closed, and traffic is being diverted. Our thoughts are with everyone who have been affected by this morning’s incident and we would like to thank the community for their support whilst this incident is ongoing."
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