TWO people were seriously injured and 31 others hurt when several buildings collapsed after a suspected gas explosion on Merseyside.
Houses shook and windows shattered in the blast – described as being like an earthquake – leaving bricks and debris strewn on roads in Bebington, Wirral.
A number of houses in the area were evacuated and more than 100 people were moved overnight to a nearby church.
A dance studio for children, which was unoccupied at the time, was destroyed. The blast completely flattened a Chinese restaurant and several other buildings within a 50-metre radius, including a dance studio. Emergency services scrambled to the scene of the explosion in the built-up residential area in on Saturday night. It happened at around 9.15pm as diners enjoyed a meal at Lan’s House Chinese restaurant, which was completely destroyed in the explosion. Complete Works dance studio, opposite the restaurant, was also reportedly left “obliterated’, along with a furniture shop. The blast left people buried under rubble and a search and the North West Ambulance service said 32 people were “walking wounded” and received treatment in hospital for minor injuries.
Two people were seriously injured by the blast but their condition is not yet known. Photographer Scott Dow, 34, travelled to the scene from Leigh in Wigan at 7.30am on Sunday to shoot the daylight drone footage.
He said: “We spoke to a special constable and the scene and he said two people were seriously injured, one of which he attended to. We arrived this morning [Sunday] at around 7.30am. “There was rubble all across the car park where bricks had been launched. “There was also bricks across the streets and roads behind. The rubble must have been thrown well over 100 metres.
“The fire service was still at the scene when we got there waiting for search and rescue teams. The police had set up mobile station near the site,” he said.
Mr Dow launched the drone from a nearby car park and filmed and took photos of the devastating scene from various altitudes, including 400 feet, 200 feet and 100 feet.
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