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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
National
Olivia Tobin

Wandsworth gas explosion: Pensioner, 86, dies in hospital after huge blast in south west London

An 86-year-old man left critically injured in a gas explosion in south west London has died in hospital.

The huge blast ripped through the man's flat in Wandsworth on Wednesday.

A passing cyclist was among those to give first aid to the elderly victim. He was taken to hospital but died the following day, the London Fire Brigade confirmed on Monday.

The force said: “A ground floor flat in a three-storey block was damaged.

(PA)

“Firefighters rescued one man from the affected flat. He was taken to hospital where he later sadly died.

“A man from an adjacent flat left before the Brigade arrived and was also been taken to hospital.”

(Alex Lentati)

Emergency services raced to the flat, on Garratt Lane, in Earlsfield, at 7.30am after receiving calls.

A shocked witness who lives opposite previously told the Standard he felt "like a bus had crashed into his flat" as the side of a nearby home was blown away.

(PA)

Dramatic photos from the scene showed debris and household items strewn across the pavement, with an entire wall of a flat on the Siward Road Estate blown out.

The LFB said the cause of the explosion is being investigated by the force and the police.

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