On 10 December 2022, an explosion destroyed a block of flats in St Helier, Jersey in the Channel Islands. Ten people were killed in the suspected gas explosion, which occurred just before 4 a.m. GMT.
The incident happened less than 48 hours after another multiple fatality in Jersey when a freight ship collided with and sank a local trawler off the island's west coast with three lives lost.
Background
The explosion occurred in a three-storey block of flats on Pier Road, which is located on the eastern shore of St Helier's harbour on the south side of the town. The building involved was a social housing block known as (), owned by the Jersey government-owned housing company Andium Homes.
Explosion
At 3.53 a.m. GMT on 10 December 2022, a suspected gas explosion occurred at 27-32 Haut du Mont, a three-storey block of flats on Pier Road in St Helier, Jersey. The explosion, which was caught on CCTV camera caused the building to pancake-collapse, completely destroying it. It was loud enough to be heard across the island, waking up local residents across St Helier who described it as feeling like an earthquake. The explosion caused a fire which sent a plume of smoke billowing across the town's harbour. The fire caused by the explosion was quickly extinguished by the Jersey Fire and Rescue Service, and specialist resources were deployed to stabilise the scene and attempt to reach any possible survivors in the rubble.
More than 50 emergency services personnel were deployed to the scene of the explosion. The surrounding area on Mount Bingham, including Pier Road and South Hill, was cordoned off. Debris from the explosion, including rocks and glass, was thrown over roads and pavements across a wide area. Buildings in the surrounding streets suffered shattered windows, and buildings in the commercial district at the adjacent harbour were damaged. The emergency department at Jersey General Hospital declared a major incident and was closed to new arrivals following the explosion, and routine hospital wards were temporarily closed to visitors.
A specialist hazardous area response team and an urban search and rescue team from Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service were flown to the Island to assist in the search and rescue. Equipment and personnel were flown to the island by UK Coastguard and Royal Air Force helicopters. Crews, including a sniffer dog, worked through the night trying to locate survivors.
Victims
After 24 hours, known casualties were three dead and two injured. It was later confirmed another person was injured, bringing the total to three. The number of confirmed dead rose to five late on 11 December, with a further four still missing.
On 11 December, Jersey police ceased search and rescue efforts, with the remaining missing presumed dead. On 12 December, seven missing people, believed victims of the incident were named by Jersey Police. Two people were still believed to be missing.
On 13 December, the names of two further missing people were released. On 14 December, the number of confirmed deaths increased to eight, with one missing person. On 15 December, the final missing resident was found dead. On 25 December there was a tenth fatality when a woman living at 35 Haut de Mont, a neighbouring flat who had been injured by the blast died in hospital.
All of the victims were aged in their sixties and seventies.
Investigation
The chief of the States of Jersey Police, Robin Smith, confirmed that the Jersey Fire and Rescue Service had been called at 20:36 on the evening prior to the explosion and attended the area after reports of a smell of gas. They had left the scene at 21:01 after handing over to Island Energy, the gas network operator in Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man, in accordance with their standard operating procedure. The company launched its own immediate investigation into the explosion alongside, but independent of the official investigation launched by Jersey's authorities.
According to Andium Homes, owner of the block, there had been no mains gas supply at the block. The company's chief executive said that "There was a redundant Island Energy supply at Haut du Mont but as Island Energy have confirmed, no gas was being consumed on site either by us or our residents". In September 2022, Andium asked Island Energy to disconnect the redundant supply from the mains network after the last tenant in a different apartment block in the Haut du Mont development switched to an electric cooker. A trench where gas engineers had been working before the incident in the street below Haut du Mont is subject to a police cordon but Smith said this was not part of the investigation.