A vacation residence has been destroyed and a lady was critically injured in an explosion close to Alton Towers.
Emergency companies had been dispatched to Bradley within the Moors in Staffordshire round 4 miles from the theme park. Eyewitnesses have reported a pair of buildings being blown aside by the blast with one girl in her 50s reportedly struggling “serious burns”.
Tommy Beardmore says his aged dad of the identical title, 82, was one of many first on the scene. He mentioned: “It happened around lunchtime. My dad was on the scene. He heard the explosions. Pieces were falling on him. It blew windows out on the nearby properties. My dad was on a walk nearby and went straight there. He wanted to go and help.
READ MORE: Pilot kills 70 in fireball crash after ‘betting he could land plane with his eyes closed’
More plane crash tragedies can be read about here
“Three log cabins had been all destroyed, they had been all over and within the timber. My dad helped a lady and he phoned the emergency companies. All the properties round will need to have heard it. It’s a catastrophe. I assume it was a gasoline explosion. When my dad instructed me I used to be terrified and hoping everybody was OK.
“I’m proud of my dad. He always taught me to run away from any danger but he runs to it even at his age. I’ll have to give him a telling off when I see him. I don’t know if anyone was in the cabins at the time.”
Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service mentioned in an announcement to the Daily Star: “We have extinguished a fire at a holiday cottage in Alton this afternoon (29 December) following reports of a gas explosion. Crews from Longton and Hanley were sent to an address on Bradley Lane, Threapwood, shortly after 12:40pm. Our colleagues from Staffordshire Police and West Midlands Ambulance Service also went to the scene.
“Firefighters used hose reel jets to extinguish the fireplace, which was put out round 1:30pm. Emergency companies carried out a search within the space to ensure everybody was accounted for within the neighbouring properties.
“A woman, in her 50s, suffered serious burns at the scene. She was taken to hospital by air ambulance. As a result of the explosion, the building was destroyed. Gas engineers came out and isolated the supply to make sure the area was left safe.
“An investigation into what brought about the explosion is ongoing and emergency companies will stay on the scene.”
For more shocking stories from the Daily Star, make sure you sign up to one of our newsletters right here