Two people taken to hospital after Ilford house explosion
Watch Rags Martel's report
A neighbour has said she was left “terrified” after a gas explosion destroyed a home on a street in east London.
The blast on Ley Street, Ilford, sent debris flying into the road and sparked a huge blaze in the mid-terraced property on Tuesday evening.
Isobel Rowland, 73, who lives opposite the building which had been converted into flats, said: “I heard a bang and I thought there was a crash but then I looked out my window and I didn’t know what to do.
“The flames were so high, I was terrified, I was shaking, I was absolutely shaking.”
Two people were taken to hospital by London Ambulance Service as 60 firefighters worked to tackle a blaze following an explosion in east London yesterday.
Footage on social media showed the moment of the blast at the terraced building in Ley Street, Ilford, which sent debris onto the road as vehicles, including a double decker bus, were nearby.
At the fire’s height, the first floor and loft conversion were fully alight and two people were taken to hospital by London Ambulance Service, the London Fire Brigade said.
The alarm over the fire, at the terraced house which had been converted into flats with a loft conversion, was raised at 4.09pm on Tuesday.
Station commander Darren McTernan said: “One of the brigade’s 32-metre turntable ladders was used at the scene as a water tower to help fight the fire from above.
"The brigade’s drone team were also deployed to the incident, offering the incident commander an aerial view of the scene.”
Crews from Ilford, Dagenham, Barking and surrounding fire stations were sent to the scene.
The fire was brought under control by 6.23pm and the cause is being investigated.
A London Ambulance Service spokesman said: “We sent resources including ambulance crews, an advanced paramedic practitioner, an incident response officer and members of our hazardous area response team (Hart).
“We treated three people. We took two to hospital and discharged a third at the scene.”
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