Six people (and a hamster) survive gas blast
WHEN the firemen arrived, they must have feared the worst.
An explosion tore this threestorey Victorian property apart at 2.30am yesterday – but incredibly nobody was killed.
The seven survivors even include a nine-year-old’s pet hamster, which was plucked from the wreckage alive in its cage.
One occupant of the house, which was divided into three flats, has been hailed as a hero after escorting his heavily pregnant wife and young children from the blazing building in Clacton-on-sea, Essex.
Clarel Sainte-marie, 37, said: ‘I woke without a ceiling – I thought a plane had crashed into my home. I rushed the family out of the back and we escaped on to the roof.’
He, his wife Laura, 38, and their children Gaelle, nine, and Nigel, four, escaped with minor injuries. Gaelle’s pet Lilly was unscathed.
‘We were very lucky,’ Mr SainteMarie said. ‘We have lost everything . . . but the main thing is that everyone is safe. My wife is being
‘We were very lucky’
monitored but luckily she and the baby are well.’
Firemen battled 30ft flames to rescue an elderly woman, who suffered serious burns, and a man, who was trapped under rubble for two hours after the suspected gas leak.
Care home worker Kersley Vythilingum, 30, is in a stable condition in hospital. He was found by a rescue dog on its very first job.
Mr Sainte-marie said he had spoken to Mr Vythilingum, his upstairs neighbour, adding: ‘He has some broken bones but doctors say he’ll be okay.’ The occupant of the property’s ground-floor flat, Andree Massey, 80, also remains in hospital.
Neil Holloway, of Essex Fire and Rescue, said: ‘We think it was a gas explosion, as we could smell gas when we arrived. It is incredible no one was seriously hurt, though we are concerned about the elderly woman who suffered serious burns.
‘The chap on the first floor who got his family out did really, really well. He’s a hero.’