The Wirral gas explosion that left 34 people injured and flattened buildings is being investigated as a possible crime, police have said.
Residents near a dance school in Merseyside that was destroyed by the explosion complained they could smell gas before the blast on Saturday night.
The explosion in Port Sunlight obliterated the dance school and caused several buildings to collapse, catapulting bricks to a car park 150 metres away.
Two people were seriously injured and 32 others were also taken to hospital. Children had been inside the Complete Works dance school an hour before the blast, witnesses said.
On Sunday night detectives declared the site of the blast a “scene of crime” and said they were investigating the cause.
National Grid said it would continue to look into the cause of the blast on Monday after checks found no faults: “We have checked the local gas pipe network in the area and no faults have been found. Our gas emergency engineers will return tomorrow morning to assist the police with their investigation.
“Once the work requested by the police is complete, we will leave the site. The police will be investigating the cause of this incident.”
The gas supply to up to 30 properties had been isolated as a safety precaution due to the damage to these properties, police added.
Emergency services were called to Boundary Road on Saturday night at 9.15pm. Helen Hudson was in Lan’s House restaurant when the windows were blown in.
She said: “There was a man underneath a table who my husband helped to get out. Another woman had a bad injury to her cheekbone. It was so frightening. We thought it was a terrorist attack. There was blood everywhere and dust everywhere. Our ears are still ringing now.
“We didn’t know if there would be another explosion so we thought we had to get out and we climbed through the front of the restaurant. The men were all helping the women get out and there were women with prams trying to get babies out. I can’t believe we walked away alive.”
- This article was amended on 27 March 2017 to correct the attribution of a statement made by National Grid.
