A house exploded - leaving "absolute carnage" - on a residential street on Tuesday.
Pictures from the scene in Middlesbrough, Teesside show one semi-detached property was completely destroyed in the incident. Emergency services, including an air ambulance, had dashed to the horror and people were urged to "avoid the area".
Sean Joseph, who lives at the back of the property, said: "I work from home and just heard a huge explosion. I actually thought it was a plane crashing". Mr Joseph described the scene as "absolute carnage".
Firefighters remained at the scene for hours and the area was cordoned off to the public. One have-a-go hero dashed inside the burning inferno to carry a man out of the rubble. Kayfee Hameed, 45, said: "I ran inside and I said is 'anybody there?' The man was laid down there were all rocks on his leg. He was just shocked. I told him to come closer because the fire was coming down. I put him on my back and got him out. I put him on the grass. All his skin came off like a carrier bag."
The man Mr Hameed rescued was the only person in the property, said Mr Hameed, a roofer from Berwick Hills, a suburb in Middlesbrough. Luke Myler, a councillor in the area, tweeted: "Very concerned by news emerging from Park End. Emergency services are responding now. I would urge people not to speculate until details are confirmed - I will keep residents updated as and when I can, and my team is here to help connect anyone affected with the relevant services."
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This is the terrifying aftermath of a suspected gas explosionWitnesses told Teesside Live a Northern Gas Networks (NGN) van was stationed at the scene. Steve Pigott, Business Operations Lead for NGN said: "Our engineers are on site at the request of the emergency services, and are supporting them with their investigations."
The explosion happened near the Park End area of the town, near a school and a large supermarket. Great-grandmother-of-two Susan Smith, 73, lives next door to the house which has been destroyed in the explosion. She said: "I just heard this big bang and I thought what's that? Then I just saw all of the slates coming down. It was a shock. The whole house shook. I didn't have a clue what it was."
A spokesperson for North East Ambulance Service said: "We received a call to 999 at 12.42 this afternoon to reports of a house explosion on Kirkland Walk, Middlesbrough.
"We sent a duty officer, a clinical team leader, two emergency ambulance crews, a rapid response paramedic, a doctor, four Hazardous Area Response Teams and the air ambulance. One patient has been transported to the RVI (Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle) by air with severe burns."
Pictures from the scene show one semi-detached property has been completely destroyed in the incidentGreat North Air Ambulance Service also confirmed the service was present after receiving a call at 12.46pm. A spokesman said: "Our critical care team was activated at 12.46pm to an incident in Middlesbrough.
"We had two doctors and two paramedics respond to the scene and they worked alongside the North East Ambulance Service to assess and treat a patient. The patient was airlifted to hospital."
A Cleveland Fire Brigade spokesperson said: "We are currently (18/06/2024 @ 12:42) dealing with an incident on Kirkland Walk in Middlesbrough. Please avoid the area if you can."
A Cleveland Police spokesperson confirmed the nature of the incident and thanked residents for their patience. A spokesperson said: "Cleveland Police are at the scene of an incident in Kirkland Walk, Middlesbrough.
"Officers responded to reports of a house explosion at around 12.40pm today.Members of the public are urged to avoid the area while Cleveland Police, Cleveland Fire Brigade and North East Ambulance Service work together at the scene. We thank local residents for their patience as we continue to deal with this incident."
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