Two adults are dead after a ‘suspicious’ explosion at a house in Bristol this morning, police have said.
The blast happened at around 6.30am in Sterncourt Road, causing around 70 residents to be evacuated from their homes and placed in a temporary rest centre.
Avon and Somerset Police said the incident is not terror-related, but it has declared a major incident. Armed police swarmed the street and a bomb disposal team has also been deployed.
The cause of the incident is being treated as ‘suspicious’, but officers are not currently looking for anyone else in connection with the incident.
The families of the two people who died have been updated.
Officers are also carrying out inquiries at a property three miles away in Speedwell linked to this incident, the force said.
A spokesperson for Avon and Somerset Police said: ‘Given the recent change to the UK threat level, we would like to reassure the public from the outset we are not treating this as a suspected terrorist incident.
‘We ask people not to speculate around the circumstances and continue to encourage the public to avoid the area while emergency services respond to this incident.’
Two people are dead after an explosion at a house in Bristol this morning. The blast happened at around 6.30am in Sterncourt Road and the incident is being treated as ‘suspicious’
Avon and Somerset Police said the incident is not terror-related, but has declared a major incident with a bomb disposal team currently at the scene
Smoke has been seen rising from one of the homes, and a white tent has been put up on the green.
A cordon has also been put in place ‘as a precaution to help keep the public safe’, police said.
Around 70 neighbours have been moved to a nearby Snuff Mill Harvester pub, according to Bristol Live.
One who went outside after hearing a ‘loud bang’ at around 6.30am was told by armed police to ‘get inside’.
‘There were two or three unmarked police cars and a number of ambulances and police vehicles, and now the bomb squad is there,’ they said.
Bradley Shepherd ‘jumped out of bed’ after hearing a ‘large explosion noise’.
He told the BBC: ‘There was nothing immediately that I could see, but within minutes the police were arriving, attending the property. We had all emergency services there within 10 minutes, armed police.
‘Within maybe about 15 or 20 minutes, once they had it cordoned off, they were instructing all the neighbourhood, the majority are probably 60-plus years of age, to actually evacuate their properties and take residence in the local Harvester [restaurant].’