A townhouse in western Sydney is now just a pile of rubble following a massive explosion from a suspected gas leak, with multiple people injured and one woman unaccounted for.
The blast occurred on the second level of the property on Waikanda Crescent, in Whalan with Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) called just before 1pm on Saturday.
Emergency services responded to a call about an explosion having ‘blown out’ a level of the unit.
Windows were smashed in the explosion and witnesses could be heard screaming.
A spokesperson for Fire and Rescue NSW told Daily Mail that one person remains unaccounted for and five residents were evacuated from the building.
Two women were rescued from the collapsed structure’s rubble – a woman in her 60s and another woman in her 70s who uses a wheelchair.
Another 12 people from surrounding houses were evacuated.
Ambulance NSW told Daily Mail five people were taken to hospital after the blast – three transported to Mount Druitt Hospital and another three to Hawkesbury District District Health Service. Their current conditions are unknown.
Another person was treated at the scene.
Early indications suggest the explosion may be the result of a gas leak.
Fire and Rescue, ambulances, HAZMAT, police, gas and energy personnel were able to enter the building on Saturday afternoon only after gas was cut to the area.
FRNSW teams trained in Urban Search and Rescue operations using concrete-cutters to clear the debris recovered a small dog from the units which is being cared for at the scene.
Remote controlled drones have been dispatched above the buildings to make an aerial assessment of the blast zone.
The house had ‘major damage’, with a neighbouring home also impacted, reported the Sydney Morning Herald.
Fire and Rescue NSW urged the public to stay away from the building.
‘The gas supply has been cut at the scene of an explosion … allowing Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) teams to enter and search the area,’ they said.
‘There is no fire at present but the scene remains volatile and unstable.’
Whalan resident Kathleen Morris said the sound of the explosion was massive.
‘I heard a big bang and the whole house shook, everybody came out of their house, wondering what had happened,’ she said.
A resident told the Courier Mail that the explosion ‘shook my home four streets away’.
One person on social media said they heard the blast from their yard in Lethbridge Park which is 2.5km away while another said they heard it 9.4km away in St Clair
Terry Fisher, who was working around the corner at time, told the publication that he rushed towards the unit block when he heard a loud bang.
‘I was working around the corner and heard a very loud explosion,’ he said. ‘It shook the house I was in, two streets away.’
‘It was definitely a shock to see half the house blown apart, I knew something big happened, as I had never felt an explosion that big.’
Leanne Ansell told the Daily Telegraph she was lying on her lounge when she heard a massive explosion.
‘I raced outside thinking someone put a fire bomb on the veranda or something,’ she said.
‘Three of my windows were smashed out (from the impact). Then there was another house two doors down from me and their windows were smashed.’
NSW Police said that an investigation into the explosion would soon be launched.
‘An investigation into the circumstances surrounding the explosion has commenced,’ a statement read.
‘Localised traffic diversions are in place. Residents and motorists are urged to avoid the area.’
More to come.