Drone images show scale of damage caused by explosion at Yorkshire home

Just after 10.30pm on Wednesday, police, paramedics and fire crews were alerted to an explosion at a residence in Yeadon.

When emergency crews arrived at the Marshall Street home, a 57-year-old man was discovered suffering from serious injuries in the wake of the blast. He was transferred to hospital for treatment.

Local resident Kim Swales called emergency services after her nearby home was shaken by the blast, which she said was “1,000 times louder” than the fireworks launched earlier that day to celebrate the New Year.

“It sounded like a sonic boom… my house shook, all the windows, doors, everything – it just shook,” the 52-year-old Hayes Travel agent said. “My (15-year-old) daughter, she’s autistic and blind, she came running down crying: ‘What was that noise?’ I got outside and straight away I could smell gas.”

Walking towards the nearby home where she could see smoke rising, Ms Swales said there was “glass all over the street”. She said the windows of the home and those adjacent to it had all been “blown out”, while some of the walls between the homes had collapsed.

Ms Swales welcomed a lady in her eighties from the house next door to the explosion into her home while emergency services attended to the scene.

“She’s 85 this year, this lady, so it’s a bit traumatic for her,” Ms Swales said of the neighbour. “She said she doesn’t even remember hearing the bang – all she remembers was just the walls coming in and the dust. We’re just a street away, house is warm and kettle were there – what more could you do? I sent the lady on with pyjamas and a dressing gown.”

Ms Swales said the local council contacted her in the early hours of Thursday morning and transferred the elderly lady to a hotel. Two properties sustained substantial damage, with authorities evacuating nearby properties amid fears of further danger.

West Yorkshire Police confirmed that all residents have received the green light to return to their homes by 4.30am, except for two homes that are yet to be cleared.

According to a police media statement, initial investigations suggest that gas may have ignited and therefore triggered the Marshall Street explosion. The source of the gas is currently under investigation.

Northern Gas has made the gas mains connected to local residences safe. The area has been roped off from the public by authorities, with police adding that cordons on Marshall Street will remain in place throughout Thursday as further investigations take place.