A house has dramatically blown up in what is suspected to be a gas explosion with three people taken to hospital.
Footage circulating online shows plumes of black smoke and flames coming from a property on Lancaster Road in Yate, near Bristol, on Tuesday morning.
Around 40 people were evacuated from their homes as a precaution, while those taken to hospital are not thought to have suffered any life-threatening injuries.
One eyewitness, Neil Lewis, told the BBC that he saw the flames while driving past, with “debris everywhere” and local residents gathered in the street.
“I thought I’d call in to see what it was and if anyone needed help,” he said.
“The house has gone up, it looks like an explosion.
“There’s debris everywhere and people in the street. I’m not sure if it was the neighbours or the people in the house, but it looked like they were being cared for. They looked in shock, in distress.”
A refuge centre has been set up at a nearby house for those that have been affected.
A spokesperson for the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) said that they were called to the incident at 06.51am.
“We sent four double-crewed land ambulances, two operations officers, a critical care car and the hazardous area response team to the scene. We conveyed three patients by land ambulances to Southmead Hospital.”
Alan Monaghan, a Liberal Democrat councillor on Yate Town Council, told the BBC that he thought he heard a “door slam” upstairs in his house before describing the fire and the explosion as “unbelievable”.
A spokesperson for Avon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service said: “We were called at 6:53am to reports of a gas explosion in a residential home on Lancaster Road, Yate this morning (Tuesday 29 April).
“The explosion caused a fire, which has now been safely extinguished. A cordon has been put in place and approximately 40 people have been evacuated from their homes as a precaution.
“Three people have been injured and have been taken to hospital with injuries that are not expected to be life threatening. A fourth person has been treated by the ambulance service at the scene.
“Local people are asked to avoid the area while we deal with the incident.”
Avon and Somerset Police have been contacted for comment.
