Mother and two of her sons feared among five dead in huge shop blast
A MOTHER and her two teenage sons are feared to be among five victims killed in a huge explosion which destroyed their flat and the shop below it.
Mary ragoobar, 46, and sons Shane, 18, and Sean, 17, have not been seen since a suspected gas blast demolished their split-level apartment above a Polish grocery store.
They moved into the two-bedroom property in Leicester four years ago along with Mrs ragoobar’s husband, Jose ragoobeer, 58, and the couple’s youngest son, Scotty, 15. Mr ragoobeer was at work at the time of the explosion on Sunday evening, while Scotty was pulled from the rubble by a passer-by and is being comforted by his father in hospital.
yesterday, as relatives told of their torment at the wait for news of their loved ones, the shopkeeper working in the Polish store described his escape.
Aram Kurd, 33, who opened the store in December, was saved from injury after going into a rear storeroom to fetch a crate of beer at the moment of the explosion. But he said his Latvian assistant, Victoria, who was on her first shift and had been standing at the counter, remained unaccounted for.
Mrs ragoobar’s brother, Krishna rungen, 69, told reporters at the police cordon yesterday that the family had been watching television along with Shane’s girlfriend – named locally as Leah reek, 18 – when the property caved in.
Sean, Shane, his girlfriend and Mary were all missing, he said.
Mr rungen said of Scotty: ‘He’s got a few cuts but he’s OK. He is in a daze. He said his mum and his brothers then the were next watching thing he TV knows and bricks were falling over him, and then it was pitch black.
‘He was crying for help and somebody just pulled him out of the rubble. He still doesn’t know his family are missing; he thinks they might be injured somewhere but he doesn’t know where they are.’
Mr rungen, who was due to go on holiday with the family – who are originally from Mauritius – in April, added: ‘We seem to be getting more information via the media than the police – it’s not good enough. Jose is going mental (about the lack of information).’
Leicestershire Police confirmed a fifth body was found inside the remains of the building yesterday. Five officers others have not remain ruled in out hospital. the possibility that more bodies – or survivors – could be found. CCTV footage shot from a nearby property appears to show a person walking into the shop just as the front of the building was blown out. Speaking at his home in the city yesterday, a ‘devastated’ Mr Kurd said: ‘I cannot believe what has happened. I don’t know how I survived. For some reason god has decided to keep me alive. I know I am extremely lucky. I was just reaching for a crate of beer to take to the fridges when I was flung into the air and landed on my back. I was looking at the sky.’ Hardeep Singh, 45, who owns the destroyed building, said Mrs ragoobar and her husband worked at a care home, adding: ‘I called Jose after I heard about the blast. He was at work and he was safe, but I don’t know about the rest of the family. They are a lovely family and very good tenants – their images keep flashing before my eyes. ‘I’m in shock about what happened. I don’t understand what has happened as there were no gas fittings in the shop, only electric. There was obviously a gas boiler in the flat, in the bathroom at the back of the property. There is nothing left there now.’ Matt cane, of Leicestershire Fire and rescue Service, said fire crews were still working to find survivors who may be trapped in ‘voids’ inside the collapsed building.