Dozens injured in Wirral explosion
22 minutes ago
From the section Liverpool
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Media captionFootage from the Liverpool Echo showed the extent of the damage
Two people have been seriously injured and 32 others hurt after several buildings collapsed in a suspected gas explosion on Merseyside.
Houses shook and windows smashed in the blast - described as sounding like an earthquake - leaving bricks and debris strewn on roads in Bebington, Wirral.
A number of houses in the area were evacuated and more than 100 people were moved overnight to a nearby church.
A dance studio for children, which was unoccupied at the time, was destroyed.
Dan Stephens, chief officer at Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service, said the scale of damage is considerable.
"It's what we would describe as a total collapse, or the explosion has blown the walls out, which has caused the roof to collapse," he said.
"It's a very significant debris field and [there is] lots of structural damage to the surrounding buildings."
Image copyrightLEW HOPKINS/ GOOGLE STREETVIEW
Image caption
Images (top) show the aftermath of the collapse and the building beforehand (below)
Emergency services were called to a "major incident" at about 21:15 GMT.
The seriously injured people were taken to Aintree Hospital in Liverpool. Others, less badly hurt, were treated at the Countess of Chester and Arrowe Park hospitals in Merseyside. One person was taken to the Royal Liverpool Hospital, North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) said.
Ch Insp David Westby, of Merseyside Police, said an investigation was under way.
He said: "We've got officers at all the hospitals. Detectives are gathering the relevant information in relation to victims and we will commence the investigation... from this point on."
Eyewitness Adam Dingwell, 36, described seeing someone lying in the street as he drove through Port Sunlight at the time of the explosion.
"We pulled straight over and tried to establish what had happened. Someone came running from the direction of the noise saying that there had been an explosion and a building had been destroyed.
"When we pulled up we could see....someone was lying in the street", he said.
The fire service has warned the after effects of the explosion will last for some time.
"This incident is likely to be protracted. This is likely to last several days. There is very significant damage, so it will be some time before people will be allowed back into their homes," Mr Stephens said.

Image copyrightTOM DAGNALL
Image caption
The destroyed building housed Complete Works dance studios which teaches children from the age of 3
The violent explosion was heard by many people living in the Bebington area. Lew Hopkins, who lives close to the site, said: "It sounded like an earthquake. Our whole house shook. It sounded like the windows were about to smash in.
"I know people about five, six miles away and they heard the explosion as well. Straight away I ran into the street and all the neighbours were outside."
Another resident, Mark Hamley, said: "There was a sense of quiet at first. Then you'd hear the odd shout or scream and cry.
"My main concern was for my girlfriend and my baby. I wanted to know they were safe. I put some clothes on, went outside and by the time that happened, the police were on the scene."

Image caption
Many people in the area felt the blast and came out to see what had happened
Josh Parry, of The Liverpool Echo, told BBC News the dance studio was next door to a Chinese restaurant, where a number of customers may have been injured.
He described a "significant" emergency response with about 12 ambulances and between 30 and 40 firefighters on site.
"There's been a huge amount of National Grid workers here, a huge response from the fire and ambulance and police, but also five or six accounts from people in the area that said yesterday they could smell gas in the area.
"That has not, I must stress, come officially from anywhere yet, but that is something that a number of people who live in the area have said to me," he added.

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The police cordon around the explosion site exceeded 200m
Local MP Alison McGovern said: "I live in New Ferry. I obviously felt it, didn't know what it was and then it became clear that there had been this very large explosion.
"There's very, very little we can say at this point. I would just ask people to stay away if they can, keep clear of the area and just let the police and the emergency services do their job."

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The emergency services set up an incident response unit in New Ferry
A local churchman, pastor Aaron Partington, opened the doors of the My Life Church in Bebington to offer food and shelter to residents forced from their homes.
"There's been over a hundred people through the doors here. There's been a lot of stunned people," he said.
"A lot of people just feeling really, really at a loss.
"You kind of see this stuff happening on the news in other places, you don't really think it's going to happen on your doorstep."

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People affected by the explosion were offered refuge and support at a nearby church
A message posted on the Complete Works Facebook page said: "We are absolutely devastated that our lovely dance studios were impacted by tonight's events but first and foremost we are so very grateful that no one was in them at the time and now we hope there are no serious injuries and that everyone local is safe."
More than £600 has already been donated to help the dance school recover from the loss of its building.
Lauren Dickson, who set up the Just Giving page to raise funds, wrote: "Please donate anything you can to get Complete Works studios back on their feet.
"Complete Works was a home to 100s of children taught by hardworking Kim McDonald and Victoria Charlton. A devastating gas leak destroyed the whole building and all its contents."
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