Police treat blast as suspicious

Photo: VINCENT BROWN, DARREN ROBINSON AND ANTHONY MILLER

VICTIM . . . Jamie Heaton

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THE massive gas explosion which killed a two-year-old boy in Shaw is being treated as suspicious by police.

Four houses were destroyed in the blast in Buckley Street at 11.15am yesterday, leaving a trail of devastation in the tightly-packed terraces. The explosion killed toddler Jamie Heaton, whose mum Michelle was believed to be in the back yard at the time.

Neighbour Andy Partington (27) was airlifted to hospital with serious burns, at first feared to be 80 per cent, now believed to be 30 per cent. He is in a serious but stable condition at Wythenshawe Hospital.

Police are investigating reports of a domestic disturbance in the street the evening before the explosion. One line of inquiry is that the blast was deliberate.

Neighbours also reported smelling gas. National Grid received a call at 10.40am. An engineer was on the way when the explosion happened — believed to be at No 9, where Mr Partington lives with his partner Tanya Williamson and six children, who were not at home at the time.

Jamie’s body was found in No 11. Jamie has a brother Jack and sister Jodie.

Two neighbouring houses were also destroyed in the blast which could be heard half a mile away.

Eye witnesses reported seeing a “mushroom cloud” of smoke and rubble and scores of houses were damaged. More than 100 houses were evacuated and some dazed residents fled in their dressing gowns, pyjamas and slippers. A refuge centre was set up at Crompton House School.

Search and rescue teams from Greater Manchester and Lancashire attended with search and rescue dogs from Greater Manchester, Lancashire and West Yorkshire. The search continued for another person, feared to be buried in the rubble, while a second was unaccounted for. By 5pm they were confirmed to have turned up safely elsewhere.

Ashfaq Hussain Iltaf (27), whose father owns the property at the centre of the explosion, said Mr Partington, his partner and the children had only moved in around six weeks ago.

“He is a really nice guy. I get on with him really well. I am just in shock. It is a community here — we all know each other and we all get on with each other.”

His brother Waqar Hussain Iltaf lives in nearby Edmund Street: “Literally two minutes before, I walked past the houses and went into my house. As soon as I went into my room I heard a big explosion and the house was shaking,” said the 23 year old. “The next thing I know everyone is running down the street. I looked at the three houses I had walked past minutes before and they were nowhere to be seen. Not even a single wall was standing.

Andrew Braddock (57) fled his house in Edmund Street, about 20 yards from the explosion, in his dressing gown and slippers.

“I was watching TV when when I heard an almighty explosion. I tried to get out of the front door and couldn’t because all the frame had been twisted.

“My wife was in bed because she was working nights. I woke her up and managed to get her and the dogs out. The police wouldn’t let us back in.”

David Tomkinson (72), of Shaw, was leaving the local Asda supermarket when the incident happened.

He said: “I just drove past Chancery Lane when I saw the rubble all over the place.

“There was smoke everywhere and glass smashed everywhere - it just looked a war zone. There was mothers running out of their homes with their babies.”



POLICE believe everyone is accounted for but firefighters will continue to search today. Station manager Dean Nankivell, head of the search and rescue team, said: “The scene is just an enormous pile of bricks. At the point the police are satisfied and we are satisfied we are not looking for anyone else then this will move into an investigation.”


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