Explosion in Leicester sees police declare major incident
Posted: Sun Feb 25, 2018 11:03 pm
Four people taken to hospital after shop and flat above it destroyed by flames
A “major incident” has been declared by police after reports of an explosion in Leicester.
At around 7.03pm, Leicestershire Fire and Rescue received calls from members of the public, who said they had heard a blast on Hinckley Road.
A spokeswoman said six fire engines had been requested and that the incident is currently being treated as a search and rescue operation.
East Midlands ambulance service said four people had been taken to Leicester Royal Infirmary following the incident. All four were in a critical condition.
Leicestershire police tweeted: “There has been a major incident on Hinckley Road, Leicester. All emergency services are currently dealing with this. Carlisle Street and part of Hinckley Road have been closed. Please avoid the area.”
Pictures and video on social media show a shop on the street engulfed in flames, with the flat above completely collapsed. In the images, debris can be seen strewn across the road.
In one video, people can be seen running to the scene while others attempt to move chunks of rubble outside the building as sirens blare in the background.
The fire and rescue service spokeswoman said: “This is a search and rescue at the moment. It is unknown if people are injured or trapped.”
She added that the affected property was a two floor building with a loft conversion that had suffered a “pancake collapse”.
The shop, Western Park Store, which is sandwiched between TJ’s takeaway and Morgans bar, has a bus stop in front of it. It is to the west of the city centre.
Kat Pattison, who lives nearby, told the Guardian her whole house shook.
She said: “There was a huge bang and the whole house shook. If there had been no bang, I would have thought it was an earthquake. I couldn’t believe it.”
“It looks like the fire is burning under control but there’s still a lot of smoke. The shop would have still been open so it’s awful. I will be really surprised if anyone has come out of it alive and people could have also been hurt at the bus stop.”