'It's unthinkable...' the families set to lose their homes after horror gas explosion
29.02.2024 - 17:07
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
A shaken father of three whose family home of nearly 20 years is set to be demolished after a freak gas explosion has spoken of his utter devastation.
Mushtaq Anwar was at home with his wife, his daughter, 21, and son, 17 when the blast ripped through the house next door to his end terrace on Nelson Street in Fishpool, Bury yesterday (February 28).
Emergency services raced to the scene at around 11am yesterday following the major blast and a woman - aged in her 70s - was rushed to hospital with serious injuries.
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Residents on Nelson Street were forced to evacuate yesterday and several returned to the scene this morning in the hope of retrieving their belongings.
Among them was Mushtaq, who has been told that his house is set to be demolished along with the property at the centre of the blast and the other house adjoining it.
Speaking from the police cordon that remained in place on Nelson Street today as investigations continued, he told the Manchester Evening News: “I’m absolutely shaken. We have lived here for 18 years and have a lot of memories. I’m shocked. My children haven’t slept."
Recalling the moment the blast went off he said: “I was with my wife and two kids, my third child was at school, when we heard the explosion. When we came down everything was falling down. There were huge flames.”
Mushtaq said he and his family ran out of the back of their house to safety.
He said he has been told by a member of the fire service to send them a list of his belongings that his family would like to be saved before their home is demolished but was warned it is not certain they will be retrieved.
“We were planning my daughter’s wedding