Kentish Express Ashford & District
Shocked rescuer’s struggle – and anger at ‘glory hunters’
Several people came forward after the blast detailing the terrifying scene after the huge fire, but one angry resident branded some onlookers as “glory hunters.”
Pete Collins, 33, who lived in the flat below the seat of the blast and was home at the time, said the blast went off above his head.
He said: “The windows had come down, fibreglass had hit the floor, the roof tiles had blown off and it looked like a bomb just hit the place.
“I stood outside looking at it trying to take it in and a neighbour came running out screaming ‘Make sure he’s all right.’
“I was stood there in shock. You don’t expect that kind of thing to happen.
“But the second time she screamed I went up there, I ran up the stairs, ran along the balcony and started banging on his door.
“I was screaming through the letterbox ‘Steve, get up and get to the door, if you can hear me, get up and get to the door.’
“I was about to smash his door in with a hammer when halfway through swinging it the door handle comes down and opens.
“So adding insult to injury he nearly got a clawhammer to the face!
“I said ‘We’ve got to get out before it blows again’. The smoke was coming out of the whole bedroom. He turned round and walked back into the smoke, so I had to grab him and try to pull him out.
“He actually tried to fight me off, it must have been the shock, but I carried him out on to the balcony.
“There were a lot of nice people there but some of them are just glory hunters, trying to get themselves a bit of celebrity.
“How can they do that? A guy almost died, a bunch of people lost their homes and they’re sitting there saying ‘Oh, I was there!’ That really makes me angry.”
‘I was screaming through the letterbox: Get up and get to the door. We’ve got to get out before it blows again’