WA: Gas blast destroys Perth units

AAP General News (Australia)
04-03-2005
WA: Gas blast destroys Perth units

PERTH, April 3 AAP - A massive gas blast has ripped apart a unit block in Perth, shattering
windows of nearby houses and sending two people to hospital.

The condition of the casualties was not immediately known, but the blast at 6.25am
(WST) today all but destroyed the unit block in Raymond Street at suburban Yokine.

The tenants of the 24 units, many of whom were elderly people, were shaken and shocked
by the incident, which was felt by residents at least 500 metres away.

The explosion happened in unit 10, the central flat on the bottom floor of the complex,
which was owned by one person, according to the managing agents of the block.

Emergency authorities said the blast was so strong it ripped apart the building and
shattered windows and blew doors off other buildings within a 50-metre radius.

"It's like a war zone. It's really quite incredible," a spokesman for the Fire and
Emergency Services Authority (FESA) said.

"The central units where the explosion originated from are totally destroyed.

Search and rescue teams had been through the two storey-building where the blast occurred
but had not found any casualties, he said.

Deneise Burke, from real estate agent Darrell Crouch and Associates, said the units
had been fitted with new gas pipes and gas meters less than six months ago.

"We have to wait as long as it takes for a structural report to see if they are to
be condemned," Ms Burke said.

"But in the meantime, we have been working to rehouse all the tenants - that has been
our main priority."

Nearby residents said the blast could be felt at least 500 metres away, and had shattered
windows in houses directly surrounding the units.

Mario Tornatora said residents from several streets away emerged from their houses
wondering what had happened.

"It sounded like a bomb going off. It was huge. It shook the bloody house. I actually
jumped out of bed," Mr Tornatora said.

The brick-and-tile unit block is understood to have been built in the 1970s.

Another resident Tony Holmes said he was among the first on the scene and saw a man
with his head sticking out of the rubble.

"There was one old boy trapped with rubble on top of him and he was just moaning very
softly," Mr Holmes told ABC radio.

"His head was sticking out of the rubble and from where I was you could see a few cuts on him."

Forensic police officers were at the scene trying to determine what had happened.

A police spokesman said officers were working to secure the premises and ensure it
was safe before further investigations could take place.

AAP ajm/jfs/sd

KEYWORD: UNITS LEAD

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