Was cost of living crunch behind deadly gas blast?
ONE person was killed and others are feared to be lying dead in the wreckage of a block of flats after a huge explosion yesterday.
Fire chiefs are investigating whether the blast was caused by a resident using a makeshift heating or cooking device or gas bottles as a result of the rising cost of fuel.
One man was thrown from the threestorey building by the powerful explosion and others were said to have leapt from a window as fire ripped through the flats. The blast – which was heard up to half a mile away – sent bricks flying into the air and knocked people nearby off their feet.
While the flats in the all-electric block in Bedford are not served by a gas supply, Chris Bigland, deputy chief fire officer for Bedfordshire, said: ‘It could have been a camping stove, with the fuel crisis.’
Six fire engines, two water carriers and a command unit raced to the flats shortly after 9am yesterday.
The roof collapsed as the blaze spread through 36 flats in the building and surrounding blocks.
Bricklayers Michael Moxam, 45, and Mark Waggott, 37, were hailed as heroes after dragging two men to safety.
A bystander warned them that two girls were still in the building. Their whereabouts were unknown last night.