TWO people have been killed and 16 others, including two children, were evacuated following a suspected gas explosion at a shop in west London, firefighters have said.
The blast happened at a phone shop and barbers on King Street, Southall, at around 6.20am on Wednesday(21).
According to reports, four adults and one child were pulled from the wreckage.
Eyewitness said that a huge cordon has been thrown up around King Street as fire investigators began their investigation into the explosion.
Station Commander Paul Morgan said: “In the initial stages firefighters rescued four adults and one child were rescued at the rear of the property using a ladder. A further fourteen adults and two children self evacuated from surrounding properties.”
Harmeet Singh, of the Southall Singh Sabha Gurdwara temple, who has been helping rescue survivors since 7am, said that the blast was felt over a mile away.
Jatinder Singh, 36, the owner of the mobile phone shop Dr Phone, that was destroyed in the blast, said he was “shocked” to arrive at the scene.
Around 40 firefighters Southall, Hayes, Heston, Ealing and Feltham fire stations rushed to the scene following the accident.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said they were not treating the explosion as suspicious.
Resident Nurmila Hamid who lives nearby said she felt the blast as she was getting her children ready for school.
Mohammad Rafiq, 78, who lives two streets away, said he and his 76-year-old wife felt “shocked” and “scared” when the noise from the King Street blast woke them at their home.
The explosion has also shut off a number of streets, with the police on the scene to prevent people approaching the scene.
According to a BBC report, Ealing Council had switched off the electricity and gas supply to some homes and businesses in the area and warned more properties might need to be evacuated.
