Bryan Henesey
Nottingham Evening Post
NOTTINGHAM, England — It was a normal Thursday morning on one of Nottingham’s busiest roads.
That was until a suspected gas explosion at the former Simba grocery shop, in Alfreton Road, left a woman seriously injured.
The force of the blast blew the shop front 35ft across the road. People in surrounding businesses saw the woman stagger out of the building on fire following the blast at 11:40 am. They used a curtain which had been blown outside by the explosion to quell flames on her body.
Errol Wilson, 39, who owns Angella’s Salon, next door to the shop, tended to the woman and carried her clear.
He said: “I saw the lady running out of the shop, literally on fire. I put her down on the floor and tried to roll her to put out the flames but when I held her, her skin came off in my hands. “I just did what anyone else would do to help someone in need.”
Mr Wilson said the former shop had been being used as a social centre for members of the Somali community in Nottingham.
Graham Smith, owner of the Clarence Hotel, which is also next door to the Simba building, helped the woman with his colleague Louise Barker. Mr Smith, 48, said: “Louise had just popped out and then 10 to 15 seconds later I just heard this bang.
“I instantly thought something had happened to her when she was crossing the road, but looked and saw all the glass and everything across the road.
“I ran out and heard the girl screaming. “She was still on fire, so me and another man at a shop further up grabbed a curtain that had been blown out and patted her down.
“He picked her up and moved her away from the front of the shop. “We did what we had to do.” He added: “The woman had skin coming off her and she looked very much in pain. We can only hope she’s okay.” Louise, 25, of nearby Birkin Avenue, was one of a number of people who called 999 following the explosion.
She said: “The woman was badly injured and she was still burning all over her body.
“It’s really shaken me up, as I’d never seen anything like it before.
“We did all we could to help.” Firefighters say the woman, who has not been identified but was described as black and in her late 20s, suffered 30 per cent burns in the explosion.
Martha Nelson, 47, was on the doorstep of her house in Alfreton Road when she heard the blast.
She said: “The whole house trembled, it was that powerful.
“I was one of the first on the scene and dialled 999 straight away.
“The smell of the burning of her clothes and skin was overwhelming.” She added: “I’ve seen a lot in my life but that was the worst thing I’ve seen.”
Nurses based in offices across the road then tended to the woman before she was taken to hospital.
Nurse Marie Ward was one of the first on the scene when the explosion blew the shop front to pieces.
Mrs Ward, a clinical specialist on the falls and bone health team fat the NHS Nottingham City Care Partnership, said: “I saw a colleague come into work and her face looked pale.
“I asked her what had happened and she said there had been an explosion outside on the road.
“So I went outside and saw a woman lying on the floor and a man was standing with her.
“I did not administer any first aid, she was clearly burnt, but I tried to calm everyone down and made sure that an ambulance had been called.
“An ambulance did arrive within minutes. It made me proud to be part of the NHS, everything went as smoothly as possible under the circumstances. “It was quite a scary moment because at the time we weren’t sure what had caused the explosion.
We didn’t know whether it had been an accident or something more sinister.”
Four crews of firefighters from Central and Stockhill stations were called out, while a 50-metre area around the shop was cordoned-off.
Homes between Palin Street and Hartley Road were also evacuated as a precaution.
Martin Bills, station manager at Stockhill fire station, said the cause of the explosion was still being investigated, but that a gas cylinder was believed to have been involved. He said: “When we got here we saw the front of the shop blown out, with a door and glass on the other side of the road. The injured lady, who had 30 per cent burns, indicated there may be others in the property.
“We searched but their was no one else involved.
“It is looking like some form of gas explosion, but the investigation is continuing. “For a busy road, we’re quite lucky nobody else was injured. “The front is blown out. A single-storey extension at the back has also had its roof pushed up by the blast.”
'' It’s shaken me up, as I’d never seen anything like it before. We did all we could to help Louise Barker
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