‘There was a big plume of smoke... it was chaos, it’s awful’

AN Edmund Street resident revealed to the Chronicle she made a call to the gas board 35 minutes before the explosion.

The woman, who would like to remain anonymous, reported she could “smell gas” on the street at 10.40am. She said: “They said they would send someone out within the hour.”

A National Grid spokesman confirmed that it received a report of a smell of gas in the Edmund Street and Buckley Street area of Shaw at 10.40am.

He said: “This was shortly followed by another call to report that there had been an explosion.”

National Grid has started a series of tests on the gas mains and the pipes serving Buckley Street.

Engineers hope to resume these tests today under the direction of Greater Manchester Police who have now taken control of the site and are treating it as a crime scene.



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