Mystery blast kills woman
A 61-YEAR-OLD woman was killed and five other people were injured after a huge explosion demolished a mid-terraced cottage.
One woman and a young girl were pulled screaming from the rubble and taken to hospital. Three people were treated by paramedics at the scene.
Neighbour Kerry Crompton, 36, rushed out after hearing the blast.
Hysterical
The specialist nurse said: “I was watching TV when I heard the explosion. I went outside, there was smoke everywhere. I heard screaming coming from next door. I saw a mum and daughter and dragged her out.
“The little girl was hysterical because she had lost all her toys.
“The mum was screaming. I think she was completely disorientated. I just grabbed them both and the dog and got them out of the house. I’ve been told that at the time of the explosion the lady who died was in the living room on a video call to her friends. It is so sad – I used to see her walking her dog.”
The explosion shook the village of Summerseat, Ramsbottom, Greater Manchester, 9.30pm on Wednesday.
Yesterday the cause was still being investigated. More than 30 neighbouring houses were evacuated and power supplies were cut off. Most residents have been allowed home.
Fire service watch manager Steve Wilcock said: “Summerseat is a closeknit community and there has been an outpouring of support.”
Greater Manchester Police said last night that the victim has not been formally identified but is believed to be Hazel Wilcox.
YOU might expect Dame Judi Dench to be offended by having a bin lorry named after her – but that’s garbage.
The Oscar-winning actress said she was “proud” after the food waste truck was given the moniker Dame
Foodie Dench. It was one of the winners in a competition to name vehicles in the Bracknell Forest Council fleet.
James Bond star Dame Judi, 86, joked in a 15-second video: “I’ve been called lots of names and I’ve played lots of people.
“But I’ve never been called Dame Foodie Dench. And I’m very proud to be so.”
Other trucks have been named Binderella, Truck Norris, Hank Marvin and
The Food Dude in the Berkshire town.
A bin lorry was named Kate Binslet after actress Kate Winslet in her home town of Reading.
In Manchester, gritter lorries have been named Gritta Thunberg and Snowel Gallagher.
THE last car driven by Sir Stirling Moss as a pro is for sale for a heartracing £380,000.
He gave the 1960 Lotus 19 Monte Carlo a spin in 1963, a year after a crash put him in a coma for a month and paralysed the left side of his body for half a year.
The accident happened at Goodwood in West Sussex – and Moss returned to test his reactions. Despite only being a few tenths of a second slower than normal he felt he had lost his touch so quit full-time racing.
Jim Clark had raced the car to a Silverstone win in 1962 and Graham Hill also got behind the wheel in it.
The 240bhp pistachio-coloured speedster has had major restoration work and is ready to race again.
Silverstone Auctions, selling it on March 27 in Ashorne, Warwicks, with original race programmes and papers, said: “It is superbly presented for competition.”