Afternoon:
10°c
Alan Sugar saved my life
Benedict Moore-Bridger and Anna Davis, Evening Standard8 May 2008
A father-of-two told today of his miraculous escape from a gas blast that left at least one man dead and destroyed three houses.
Mark Leahy said his decision to watch The Apprentice at his ex-wife's home, rather than return to his house, was crucial.
"I guess you could say Alan Sugar saved my life," he said. His terrace home in Stanley Road, Harrow, was reduced to rubble by the explosion at 9.40pm yesterday. Two people were seriously injured and residents ran for their lives as buildings collapsed.
The blast was heard up to five miles away.
Today firefighters were searching the rubble for any survivors or bodies.
Mr Leahy, 42, said: "Normally I would be in the house and that would have been it. We were very lucky - I'm in disbelief. By the grace of God I'm alive. I was supposed to be coming back home but I was watching the Apprentice at my ex-wife's."
He had taken his teenage sons to a golf driving range then dropped them at his former wife's home in Harlesden. Not wanting to miss an episode of the TV show, he decided to stay. Mr Leahy, a site manager, added: "I've only taken golf lessons three times." Mr Leahy's tenant, Steve Barber, 44, also had a lucky escape after staying at a friend's house instead of returning home.
Today firefighters were using heat-seeking and listening devices to search for anyone who may be trapped under the rubble. Sniffer dogs could also be brought in later today.
A 26-year-old man was taken to Northwick Park Hospital in Harrow suffering serious head injuries, and a 17-year-old woman with severe burns was taken to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. It is believed she was rescued by neighbours.
Paul Redmond, whose house is next to the blast site, told how he sprinted for his life with his three young children.
Fighting back tears, he said: "I was just going to bed when I heard a huge bang and felt the house shake. I've never heard anything like it.
"The kids were screaming. We gathered what we could and ran. The door was blown off its hinges - we were lucky the stairs were still standing.
When we got outside the next house was still falling.
"Within a minute I could see about 100 people outside pulling at the rubble. I dropped the kids with a neighbour and joined in. I thought my friend Mark was dead, as it was his house."
Mr Redmond, 47, a transport manager, has lived in the street for nine years with son Conor, eight, and daughters Aisling, 11 and Ciara, 13. His wife Lisa had been at a meeting when the explosion happened. She said: "The kids were hysterical. My husband saw a woman trying to scramble out of the rubble and ran over to help her."
One woman, who asked not to be named, said: "A friend of mine gave an injured girl CPR. It was before the ambulances had arrived.
"The girl had been dragged out of the building and was badly cut. My friend got covered in her blood. A fireman told her she had probably saved the girl's life."
Six fire engines with 30 firefighters, four ambulances, a paramedic fast response team and a hazardous area response team were sent to the scene.
About 40 residents were evacuated and housed in a nearby Royal British Legion building, a spokesman for Harrow Council said. A National Grid spokeswoman said: "We have isolated the gas supply to the affected properties and carried out initial checks of our network, and found no traces of a gas leak on our network."
The scene of the blast is less than a mile from a block of flats where a gas explosion occurred in February. One man was left seriously injured after the blast in Annan Court, Drinkwater Road.
