Three people have been confirmed dead on Saturday following an explosion and fire that collapsed a block of flats in Jersey, one of the UK’s self-ruled Crown Dependencies.
Three others have been treated in hospital for apparent minor injuries, and police are continuing to search for around “a dozen” people thought to be missing.
The incident occurred in the early hours of Saturday on Haut du Mont Pier Road, St Helier, on the south of the island, which is located in the English Channel near the coast of north-west France.
According to States of Jersey Police, the force received reports of a “large explosion” at around 4 a.m. on Saturday.
The force said on Twitter around 7:3o a.m. that the fire had been put out before posting a further update in the afternoon saying “pockets of fire” were found.
The night before the explosion, fire services attended the area regarding concerns of residents reporting smelling gas. Heads of emergency services said it’s too early to speculate on the cause of the incident.
Robin Smith, the chief officer of the States of Jersey Police, told reporters the search and rescue operation will continue throughout the night, and family liaison officers have been supporting those affected by the incident.
“This is a protracted incident. This is going to go for days, maybe weeks, and therefore it’s important that we have the resilience to continue and keep going,” he added.
Asked how many were still missing, Smith said, “We are thinking in the region of around a dozen people. My hope is of course for obvious reasons that number is a lot less.”
Smith said in a press conference in the morning that two people “walking wounded” were in hospital at the time. Providing an update, Chief Ambulance Officer Peter Gavey said the two individuals have been released from hospital, while one other was in hospital receiving some treatment, “but nothing serious at this time as I understand it.”
In the earlier press conference, Smith told reporters between 20 and 30 people were evacuated from the area and had been taken to St Helier Town Hall.
Describing the extent of the damage, the police chief said he didn’t know how many flats were destroyed, but a three-story building had “completely collapsed” and there are damages to nearby buildings.
“From a demolition point of view, probably as a pancake that it just drops almost sort of straight down,” he said, saying there was “considerable destruction.”
Cause of Fire Under Investigation
Daniel Hunt, a 19-year-old data administrator who lives across the bay from the collapsed flats, told PA news agency that his bedroom had been “shaken from the explosion with the windows rattling” when the explosion occurred.Smith told reporters in the morning that fire service had been called to the area the night before after residents reported smelling gas and that police would investigate “whether or not there was a safety issue” regarding gas supplies.
Asked to provide more details in the afternoon, Chief Fire Officer Paul Brown confirmed that some officers had attended a call that was received at 8:36 p.m. on Friday and conducted investigations.
“I will give you an answer to that question. But what I'd like to do for the moment is just focus on the emergency response, talk with my colleagues and consider those bits that are subject to investigation and make sure I don’t tell you something that I need to tell someone else first,” he said.
Asked what may have caused the “ferocious explosion,” Brown told reporters there are “many different potential causes.”
Smith said a police detective has begun investigating the situation.
“As you would expect in any circumstances like this there, it may be a criminal investigation, it may be a joint investigation of the like, but part of the work that we are doing is looking at the investigative side of things and a detective, senior detective, has been deployed to examine some of those things,” he said.
The destroyed building was managed by Andium Homes—a states-owned independent company that rents out thousands of properties on the island.
Moore said the company had “worked alongside government colleagues, and quickly mobilized accommodation and other support” for people affected by the incident.
The chiefs offered “thoughts and prayers” to the victims and their families and paid tributes to local first responders as well as British emergency services, coastguards, and military, who provided “significant support.”
