Dodd vows to continue his comedy career
A MOTHER and her two teenage sons have been named among the victims of an explosion in Leicester, with no survivors believed to be left in the wreckage.
The remains of five people have been recovered from the site of the building In Hinckley Road, which was demolished in a huge blast on Sunday night, Leicestershire Police said.
While no one else is believed to be trapped in the rubble, emergency services “cannot rule out the possibility” that other people were in the premises at the time and were continuing to search for further remains.
Leicestershire Police earlier said Mary Rajoobeer, 46, and her sons Shane, 18, and 17-year-old Sean, were still officially “missing”, as formal identifications had yet to take place.
The family lived in a flat above a store, which was destroyed in the explosion.
Leah Beth Reek, 18, who was Shane’s girlfriend, is also listed among the missing, as is 22-yearold Viktorija Ljevleva, who is thought to have been working in the supermarket at the time of the explosion.
Matt Cane, of Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service, said: “We cannot rule out the possibility of other people having been in the premises at the time of the explosion and whom we have yet to locate. While we have no intelligence to suggest this is the case, we cannot rule out that possibility until the search is over.”
Leicestershire Police Superintendent Shane O’Neill said the operation had now moved into the “recovery” phase.
He added: “Tragically, all we are now looking for is any further human remains.
“This is vital work that is being done, on behalf of the victims and their families, and it will take some time to complete.
“People lost their lives on Sunday in the most horrific way. We need to understand why the building exploded.
“But identifying the bodies we have recovered from the wreckage, and understanding the cause of the incident, is not an easy task, and I would continue to ask for the support and patience of local people as we carry out this serious and necessary work.”
Leicestershire Police said it may be a “considerable time” before the recovered bodies were formally identified, due to the devastation wreaked by the blast and subsequent fire.
One of five other injured people taken to hospital following the blast also remains in a critical condition. SIR KEN Dodd has vowed to carry on his comedy career after being discharged from hospital following a chest infection.
The 90-year-old comedian was greeted by his Diddymen, played by children from Liverpool Theatre School, as he made his way home to Knotty Ash from the Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital yesterday.
Asked what he would do after leaving hospital, Sir Ken said: “I’m going to teach my legs how to work again, they’ve forgotten you know, and once I’ve recovered myself I’ll get back to doing the job, which is the only job I’ve ever had.
“While I was in here I wrote some new jokes, so it should be alright.”
Sir Ken, who spent more than six weeks in hospital with a chest infection, added: “Thanks to the NHS and thanks to all the people here, all the nurses. The porridge here is remarkable.”