A house explosion which killed a woman as she was on a video call to her partner is likely to have been caused by a cracked gas main, an inquest has heard.
Hazel Wilcock, 61, died when her terraced home was destroyed by the blast in the village of Summerseat in Ramsbottom, Bury, just before 9.30pm on Wednesday February 17.
An inquest at Rochdale Coroner's Court on Thursday heard Ms Wilcock had been on a FaceTime call with her boyfriend Tony Dewes when he saw the screen go black at about 9.15pm.
Her brother Graham, 70, said he heard the explosion from his apartment, about 100 metres away, and when he was unable to contact his sister he went out towards her house on East View.
He said: "It was flat. There was nothing there, you could see straight through it."
The hearing was told Ms Wilcock's body was found on the sofa in the front room by search crews at about 3am on February 18.
Her cause of death was recorded as traumatic asphyxia.
Mr Wilcock, who thanked the emergency services for their response, said: "I just still can't believe it has happened and I miss her, I miss her terribly."
The inquest heard Ms Wilcock's next door neighbour, who was taken to hospital along with her daughter after the blast, later told police she had smelt gas at about 9pm.
When the inquest was opened in March the court heard how Ms Wilcock was on a call when the gas was sparked.
Police coroner's officer Jane Scullion told the court: "Hazel was at her home address and was having a FaceTime call with her partner when an explosion took place, causing the phone to disconnect and cut off.
"Ms Wilcock's property was completely destroyed and there was damage to two neighbouring properties.
"Ms Wilcock was in a seating position, on the sofa, at the time of the FaceTime call."
Ms Wilcock's partner was speaking to her via video call when suddenly the screen went black.
Thinking nothing of it, he imagined her phone battery had probably gone flat.
It wasn't until he received a frantic phone call from a friend that he realised what had happened.
He rushed over to the house and, despite the fact it had been reduced to rubble, Mr Dewes clung to the hope that Hazel would be pulled from the wreckage alive.
At around 3.30am, a police sergeant told him they had recovered a body.
“The bottom just falls out of your world,” he said.
“We spoke twice a day on the phone and every evening we weren’t together we would video call.
“She used to struggle to hold the phone so I bought her a tripod. I made the call on FaceTime and she said, ‘let me put the phone on the tripod’.
“We had only got through the ‘hi how are you, how’s it been’ part; we didn’t really get into any conversation.
“Then the screen just went black at 9.20pm."
Engineer Steven Critchlow, from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), said the most likely cause of the explosion was a gas leak from a cast iron main pipe 35 metres away from the house, which had permeated through the soil and into the basement of Ms Wilcock's home.
The coroner's court heard the fuel was likely to have been ignited by a washing machine or chest freezer in the cellar.
Mr Critchlow said: "We have been able to rule out every cause other than a failed gas main at the bottom of the road.
"We know that gas was permeating through the soil from that failed gas main and we know that gas had got into the cellars of properties so my conclusion is that this is an incident caused by the failure of a cast iron main."
HSE inspector Ian Redshaw said the fractured pipe, which had a crack about two thirds of the way round, was located by gas company Cadent after the explosion.
He said cast iron pipes in the gas network were being replaced as part of a 30-year programme across the country, which began in 2002, but the main in this case had not been scored as a high priority for replacement.
"Cast iron is a very strong material but it is a brittle material as well and there have been and continue to be a number of failures of cast iron pipes within the gas networks," he said.
Detective Inspector Alison Witkiewicz told the inquest she had considered whether any criminal offences had been committed but there was nothing that met the threshold for a prosecution.
The day after the blast ripped through the home tributes flooded in for Ms Wilcock, who was described as a "kind" woman with "amazing listening skills".
Scores of friends and neighbours paid their respects to the 61-year-old, who worked as a counsellor for St Ann's Hospice.
Neighbour June Winsche, who met Ms Wilcock through the village committee and from walking their dogs together, said: "She had lots of friends and loved entertaining and I'd always be invited over for meals.
"She cared for my dogs when I was away and even took in my son when we had to temporarily move out of our home when we had renovations done.
"Hazel was just so kind. We went on retreats together and she took time with me when I was going through a very bad time.
"She was a counsellor so had amazing listening skills and I am aware she helped a lot more people.
"She was very inspirational and pushed me to start my own business because she believed in me so much."
Close friend, Amanda Webber, wrote on Facebook : "A beautiful soul inside and out.
"It was a pleasure to have known you and to have worked for you, may you Rest in eternal peace and your smile shine down on us all.
"You shall be sadly missed by all who knew you.R.I.P Hazel xx."
Several properties were evacuated as a precaution following the explosion, with most residents returning by lunchtime on the same day.
A huge cordon was put in place while a mass clean-up of the rubble began.
Senior coroner for Manchester North Joanne Kearsley recorded a conclusion of accidental death.
Addressing a number of Miss Wilcock's friends and relatives who had attended the hearing, she said: "She sounds like, both professionally and personally, quite a remarkable lady."
