At least three people have died in the wake of a “devastating” explosion at three-storey tower block in Jersey.
Chief Minister Kristina Moore confirmed the latest total at a press conference following the explosion in the early hours of Saturday morning.
“Around a dozen” were reported missing after the blast at Haut du Mont on Pier Road in the Channel Island capital, St Helier.
Police described the scene as one of “utter devastation”, telling journalists how the building had “completely collapsed” and “doesn’t even look like a building”.
The States of Jersey Police were called to the scene at 4am, with one person pronounced dead and two others, described as “walking wounded”, taken to hospital for treatment.
A blaze ignited by the explosion was initially believed to have been extinguished, with emergency services “carrying out significant work” at the scene.
However on Saturday afternoon police said “pockets of fire” have been discovered, adding that the site remains “highly unsafe”.
The South West Hazardous Area Response Team, together with an urban search and rescue team from Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire & Rescue Service, have been deployed to assist.
The fire service was called to the area around 8.30pm the night before after residents reported smelling gas.
‘Unimaginable tragedy’
Ms Moore described the incident as an “unimaginable tragedy”.
She said: “As we know at 4am this morning our island experienced an unimaginable tragedy taking the life of at least three islanders.
“The last 12 hours have demonstrated to me the resilience, skill and dedication of our emergency services and our community as a whole.”
Ms Moore said her thoughts and prayers were with the people whose loved ones had died, those waiting for news and anyone forced to leave their home.
She also offered her “sincere thanks” to emergency crews who have worked tirelessly through the night.
Emergency services were called to Haut du Mont on Pier Road around 4am on Saturday morning
‘This isn’t going to finish today’
Robin Smith, chief officer at States of Jersey Police, said “significant progress” had been made thanks to a “coordinated effort” to deal with the tragedy, with the search for missing people to continue throughout the night.
But he warned the incident was “protracted” and would likely go on for “days, maybe weeks”.
“It is important we have the resilience to continue and keep going,” he told the press conference, adding: “This isn’t going to finish today.”
Specially trained officers have been deployed to Jersey town hall to provide support to people affected by the incident, which will continue “way beyond” the search and rescue phase, Mr Smith said.
Chief fire officer Paul Brown described the work was “slow and methodical”, adding that the only plan at this stage was to keep searching for people.
