Thornton Heath explosion: Met Police release image of girl, 4, killed in gas blast

Sahara Salman, 4, who died in a gas explosion in south London. Sahara body was recovered from the ruins of a terraced house in Galpin's Road, Thornton Heath, on Monday. Issue date: Thursday August 11, 2022.
Sahara Salman, 4, who died in a gas explosion in south London Credit: Met Police

Police have released an image of four-year-old Sahara Salman, who was killed in a gas explosion in south London on Monday, as they offered their condolences to her family.

Sahara Salman’s body was recovered from the ruins of a terraced house in Galpin’s Road, Thornton Heath. Detective Chief Inspector Katherine Goodwin of the Met’s Specialist Crime, said: "On behalf of the Metropolitan Police I would like to express my sincere condolences to all the family and friends of Sahara.

"This is a heart-breaking time for Sahara’s family, but I also fully understand how much distress this has caused the wider community.

"People will want to know how such terrible thing has happened and everyone involved in the investigation is determined to provide those answers."

'Pride and joy'

Her mother Sana Ahmad, in comments reported by the London Evening Standard, said the explosion was “like missiles were dropped on the properties”.

Following Sahara’s death a month before her fifth birthday, Mrs Ahmad said her family has lost its “pride and joy”, describing her daughter as “the most incredible little girl”.

And she said she believed the incident could have been prevented if people “did their job properly” – as she told how her mother identified a smell in the area on July 30, with a call being made to report it that afternoon.

A number of Thornton Heath residents, several of whom recalled a strong smell of gas in the prior two weeks, have expressed outrage over the blast.

A spokesman for SGN, the gas company, said this week: “We understand the local community has also been deeply affected by the serious incident and we’d like to reassure everyone we are working closely with investigators and assisting the emergency services.

“SGN will continue to have a presence on site in the coming days.

“Given the ongoing police investigation, we are unable to comment any further at this stage.”

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