Rescuers no longer hope to find survivors Sunday under the rubble of the building that exploded and collapsed the day before on the island of Jersey, killing at least three people while likely “a dozen” others remain buried.
“It is with sadness that I confirm that our search and rescue operations are now recovery operations” of the bodies of the victims, Jersey Police Chief Robin Smith said Sunday.
An explosion caused by a gas leak.
“We were thinking more about a pipe explosion,” a resident explains into the BFM Normandie microphone, who says she was awakened by “an extremely violent and loud noise.”
A gas leak is the alleged cause of this tragedy that occurred on Saturday around 04:00 (local time and GMT) in the island’s capital, the port of Saint-Helier in the south of the island. CCTV footage showed a fireball engulfing the three-story beachfront building, followed by a thick column of smoke.
At least three people were killed and “we expect to find more” victims, local police chief Robin Smith said at a news conference Sunday morning.
“We already said that it was about a dozen (disappeared) but it is difficult to assess,” he said. “That’s the number we’re hoping not to hit, but that’s the number we have in mind.”
The cleanup operations “are not going to take days, they are going to take weeks,” insisted Mr Smith.
Source: BFM TV
