Dad relives gas blast nightmare

A man who survived an explosion which destroyed four houses and injured 15 people today relived the horror of seeing his children trapped in the rubble.

Leon Barker was getting ready for work when a blast in his next–door neighbour’s kitchen ripped through the home he shares with his wife Sarah and children Joshua, 11, Taylor, eight and Ellis, three.

Mr Barker said: “I heard ‘bang’ and the house came down. The next thing I knew I was climbing out of the rubble and surfaced at next door’s back garden.

“I looked up and saw the middle lad half hanging out of the house and half trapped. I climbed up, got him out and then started shouting.

“My eldest child was screaming and then I was holding the roof up while the firemen were trying to get him out — which they did.”

The gas explosion flattened four terraced homes in Merlin Road, Irlam. Investigators believe the blast happened in the kitchen of Mr Barker’s neighbour — an 82–year–old woman who is being treated in hospital for burns.

Mr Barker said: “The hospital are keeping two of my children in with breaks and cuts and bruises.

“I wouldn’t wish this on anyone — having to dig out my children. I don’t think any of us realise how lucky we have been.”

A spokesman for City West Housing Trust, which owns the homes said: “A full investigation is being carried out.”

Greater Manchester Police said nine adults and five children were being treated at Salford Royal Infirmary for non–life–threatening injuries.

A large cordon thrown around the surrounding streets and 200 homes evacuated. Those residents were put up in hotels overnight.