Three people have been rushed to hospital and one person remains missing, following a blast in Swansea that “completely destroyed” one property and damaged several others. Daniel Hopkins, who lives in the area where the suspected gas explosion took place, told Wales Online: “It was chaos. It was literally like a bomb had gone off. It was everywhere.
“You could see part of the roof on the floor. Just strips of wood. You never expect this sort of thing to happen anywhere near you.”
He continued: “I ran out to see if there was anyone still in the house. I got down there. There was one guy already helping the woman out of the house as I was there. She was shouting about her son. He was in the lane, he must have come down with the rubble.”
South Wales Police said the explosion took place at around 11.20am on Clydach Road in Morriston.
A statement from the force said: “Three people have been taken to hospital by ambulance. One person is currently unaccounted for, and work is ongoing to locate them.”
Labour’s Carolyn Harris, the MP for Swansea East, told Wales Online: “One property (has been) completely destroyed and another property (has been) severely damaged and there is extensive damage to around 20 other properties.
“The area has been evacuated. The local authority and the Red Cross have been absolutely fantastic. People can’t go home until we know it’s safe. Everyone is pulling together.
“But everyone is very anxious about their own personal safety, the safety of family and friends around here and also about the damage to their properties.
“Some people have raised the question if this will be covered by insurance, which is obviously something I can help with and my office can help with because we can make sure they (residents) get representation on that.”
Writing on Twitter, one city resident said: “I’m in Swansea Vale and it shook our window, a friend of mine heard it in Cimla.”
Another said: “That was an enormous loud bang.”
Speaking to Wales Online, one resident, who does not want to be named, said they “heard a bang, saw a gust of smoke and roof tiles from a house go up in the air”.
Alamgir Hossain, who lives opposite the scene, said: “Suddenly I heard a loud sound and we went out and then I saw a lot of damage to the house.”
Leader of City & County of Swansea, Councillor Rob Stewart, tweeted: “My thoughts are with the residents at this moment from what looks like an extremely serious incident, as we try and establish if everyone is safe. Our teams are onsite and working with the emergency services.”
The search for the individual that is still unaccounted for continues.
