Two injured in attack treated as murder bid
A gas explosion in a Glasgow flat that left two people injured is being treated as an attempted murder by police.
A 26-year-old man is in a critical condition following the blast just after 7am yesterday, while a 30-year-old woman also needed hospital treatment.
Police said the explosion was a result of “a deliberate act within the flat” on Kennedar Drive that had been significantly damaged.
Twenty-three people in the block of flats were evacuated as a precaution while emergency services dealt with the incident, but have since been allowed to return to their homes.
Police and other emergency services were called to the scene in the Govan area around 7:05am.
The occupants of the flat were both injured in the blast.
The man was taken by ambulance to the Glasgow Royal Infirmary after sustaining burns. The woman was taken by ambulance to the city’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital for treatment to minor injuries and has since been discharged.
Denise Smith, 43, a neighbour living in the house next door to the explosion, said: “I woke up to the glass shattering and I could hear the woman screaming.
“I thought it was a domestic at first and then I could hear the neighbours screaming for help.
“It was awful. There was glass all about and everybody was then in the street.”
She added: “There was a woman and a man in the flat … I saw her getting brought out on a ladder, out the window.”
The flats are owned by GHA, with staff attending the scene soon after the blast.
Superintendent Craig Smith, from Police Scotland said: “Inquiries carried out so far have revealed that the explosion was as a result of a deliberate act within the flat.
“The flat has been significantly damaged.
“However, the impact of the blast did not affect other properties in the block and the 23 people who had been evacuated have been allowed back into their homes.
“Kennedar Drive remains closed to vehicular traffic until further notice.”
Gas engineers went to the scene following the incident.
Bradley Barlow, spokesman for gas distribution company SGN, said yesterday: “Following reports of an explosion in Kennedar Drive in Glasgow, our engineers joined the emergency services on site earlier this morning.
“While it is too early to speculate as to what has happened, we have made the situation safe and we’ll work closely with the emergency services to help identify the cause.”
A Scottish Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said: “Operations control mobilised three fire engines and an aerial appliance to the scene where two casualties were assisted to safety.”