A suspected gas explosion has ripped apart a home and left two in hospital.

The powerful blast at a Sunderland property tore the terraced house apart and sent debris flying into the air.

Images of the scene in the Roker area of the city showed the force of the explosion had completely gutted the building.

No deaths have been reported but two people were dragged out of the rubble with non-life threatening injuries.

Neighbour John Ellis, 43, received a phone call about the blast and believed his father was at the home he shares at the time.

The frantic son said he ‘thought he was dead’ when he heard about the blast and couldn’t get through on the phone, but thankfully he was safe.

Mr Ellis, a truck driver, said his council flat has been destroyed by the blast, along with the contents, and he was not insured.

He said: ‘The roof’s been blown off, the front’s collapsed, the back’s collapsed, it’s uninhabitable.’

He thought his neighbour had been pulled out by the fire brigade and that the air ambulance had been at the scene.

A North East Ambulance spokesman said one person had been taken to Sunderland Royal Hospital, and another to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle, both with blast injuries.

A Northumbria Police spokesperson said: ‘At 3.45pm today we received a report of a suspected gas explosion at an address on Whickham Street, Sunderland.

‘Emergency services are at the scene.

‘Two men have been taken to hospital with injuries that are not deemed to be life-threatening at this time.

‘Officers remain in the area alongside Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service and anyone with concerns is asked to speak to them.’

The Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service confirmed it was at the scene and ‘still trying to establish the circumstances’.

A spokesman said they had ‘assembled a number of crews and sent specialist crews’.

The service also posted on social media: ‘We have four appliances at the scene along with our Aerial Ladder Platform vehicle.’

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