Five people have been injured in an explosion at a house in Manchester.
Greater Manchester fire and rescue service said crews were called to a partially collapsed end-of-terrace property in the suburb of Blackley at 12.40pm on Monday. They are treating the incident as a suspected gas explosion.
We're currently dealing with a house explosion on Blackley. More to follow... pic.twitter.com/bEHVGRd5ex
— Manchester Fire (@manchesterfire) January 16, 2017
North West ambulance service said five people were injured, two of them seriously. They have been taken to hospital, but the nature of their injuries is not yet known. An injured kitten was also rescued from the rubble.
Rescue dogs were at the scene and technical response units were working to stabilise the damaged property. National Grid workers also attended on Monday afternoon.
Greater Manchester police said they had been called to the house at 12.20pm.
Pictures showed the red-brick house with its front blown off and damage to neighbouring properties.
Crews assessing the scene and undergoing primary checks to the damaged property. pic.twitter.com/Zlh9hdD3nc
— Manchester Fire (@manchesterfire) January 16, 2017
Speaking to Manchester Evening News, neighbours compared the sound of the explosion to a bomb. “I went to the street and it looks like it has taken out an entire house,” one man said. “There were loads of police and fire crews there.”
A neighbour said: “The house shook; we thought someone had crashed a car into our house, so we went out to see and it was that bang.”
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