Horror as massive ‘gas blast’ at Bournemouth home sees woman in her 50s rushed to hospital with serious injuries after getting trapped under rubble: Emergency crews rush to explosion on housing estate

• The woman had been inside her home when the huge blast ripped through 

A woman has been rushed to hospital with serious injuries after a huge gas blast caused her to become trapped under the rubble of her home in Bournemouth, Dorset. 

The woman, in her early 50s, had been inside her terrace home when the suspected gas explosion ripped through her property, with nearby homes being rocked by the massive explosion.

A heroic neighbour rushed into the burning building and doused the flames with a fire extinguisher, before helping the homeowner, while a fleet of fire engines, police cars and ambulances descended on Gunville Crescent, north of the seaside town. 

Neighbours in the area, some who said the shock felt like ‘an earthquake’, have also been evacuated from their homes as a precaution with cordon put in place.

The injured woman was taken away in an ambulance to Southampton General Hospital, after emergency services arrived after 9.45am. Her condition is not known. 

The woman, aged in her early 50s, was inside her end of terrace home in Bournemouth, Dorset, when a huge blast ripped through the property

The blast took place north of the city in Gunville Crescent housing estate 

A huge fleet of emergency services rushed to the property on Gunville Crescent, north of the seaside town

A video posted on social media shows the 1980s red-brick house largely intact but with its windows and doors blown out. Debris is scattered across a wide area outside, with a window roller-blind wedged up a tree.

Chele Holmes said: ‘I’m in the road behind and it was like a bomb went off, my whole house shook. Police, fires engines everywhere.’ 

One local resident, who was not named, said: ‘We were in our house and we heard a massive boom and the house shook.

‘When we went outside all the neighbours were out there and one of the neighbours said there had been an explosion at a house down the end of the lane.

‘A couple of guys who were working on a house nearby went to help get the woman out.’

Another neighbour said: ‘There was a massive explosion. All our neighbours immediately came out of our houses to see what had happened.

‘I’ve heard her windows and doors were blown out. She was found under the rubble. My neighbour ran out of his house with a fire extinguisher and he went into her house to help. He said her sofa was on fire. It’s just really awful.’

The injured woman was taken to hospital in an air ambulance. Her condition is currently unknown 

Another neighbour said: ‘My mum thought it was an earthquake. I was in the garden and the greenhouse shook. I immediately thought it was a gas explosion.

‘There was a 50-year-old woman in the house with her two dogs. We hope she’s okay. We all felt the shock wave.’

A spokesperson for the South Western Ambulance NHS Foundation Trust said: ‘We were called at 9.53am to an incident in the Muscliffe area.

‘We sent a double-crew land ambulance, air ambulance, critical care car, operations officer and doctor. One individual was taken by land ambulance to Southampton General Hospital.’

Katie Lobban, spokesperson for gas network company SGN, said: ‘Following reports of an explosion in Gunville Crescent, Bournemouth, our engineers joined the emergency services on site earlier this morning.

‘We understand the homeowner who was in the house at the time has been taken to hospital, our thoughts are with them.

‘It’s too early to speculate as to what has happened, and we are working closely with the authorities to help discover the cause. Our engineers are carrying out essential checks to make the situation safe for the local community.’

MailOnline has contacted Dorset Police.  

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