On Thursday, June 16, at 2.36 p.m., West Midlands Fire and Rescue responded to a suspected gas explosion in a shop building on Holyhead Road in Handsworth, Birmingham.
Three fire crews, from Handsworth and Smethwick, as well as the services Technical Rescue Unit, responded.
The exact cause of the explosion is unknown, but it blew out the front window of a shop, caused a rear wall to collapse, and burned one man. He was transported to the hospital by ambulance.
Firefighters led three people to safety from a first-floor flat.
A structural engineer was tasked with assessing the building’s safety and working with utility companies to isolate power supplies.