At least five people were killed in an explosion and collapse of an apartment building on the island of Jersey, police said Sunday, with four more possibly trapped under the rubble after two days of searching.
Death toll from the explosionit’s five o’clock nowRobin Smith, the local police chief, said Sunday afternoon. “There are still a number of residents, we estimate four, who are missing“.
At least five victims
The suspected cause of this tragedy is a gas leak that occurred around 4 am (local and GMT) on Saturday in the island’s capital, the port of Saint Helier in the south of the island. CCTV footage showed the fireball engulfing the three-storey waterfront building, followed by thick smoke. Earlier on Sunday, Robin Smith said that aid was no longer expecting to find survivors under the rubble of the three-story building.
The toll at the time was at least three dead, but “we expect to find moreabout victims, he warned, citing “a dozenabout the missing persons. “I regret to confirm that our search and rescue operations are now recovery operations.about the bodies of the victims, he said. Cleanup operations “won’t take days, they will
smell of gas
Questions are multiplying in the wake of the tragedy Sunday, especially since residents had called the fire department Friday night hours before the explosion to complain about the smell of gas.probablyabout the explosion, according to Robin Smith. “Something obviously went wrong because the building exploded and collapsedsaid local fire chief Paul Brown when asked by a reporter if residents could trust their emergency services.
He claimed that the firefighterswill fully cooperate“back”honesty and transparency” understand “what happened and why did it happen?“. His priority is first and foremost the continuation of research to ensure “dignity“families. Jersey gas supplier Island Energy also said it was working with emergency services to find out what happened. Two people were hospitalized on Saturday after an explosion rocked the small Jersey community on the English Channel.
Three sailors were lost in the shipwreck
One neighbor, Anthony Abbott, told the BBC that the explosion blew the windows of his flat inwards. “Everything was on fire outsidehe described, believing he had.good luck“. The head of Jersey’s government, Christina Moore, said she was also woken up by the explosion heard on the island. “This is incredible news, we are all absolutely devastated and truly worried for the people (still missing) and those whose lives have been lost.he said Sunday.
It is the second tragedy this week on the island, whose economy is based on the banking sector, tourism and fishing. The Jersey Coast Guard on Friday ended a two-day search at sea for three sailors who were missing when their boat capsized Thursday morning after colliding with a ferry. the boat”Foam II:“It was dived to a depth of about 40 meters, which is too deep for divers to go there without special equipment.
Source: Le Figaro
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