Two more deaths confirmed in Jersey explosion

Two more deaths have been confirmed at the site of an explosion in Jersey, which takes the total number to seven, police have said.

Jersey’s Chief of Police said there were still two residents that remain unaccounted for.

Formal identification has not yet taken place.

The explosion happened at the three-storey Haut du Mont residential block on Pier Road, St Helier, on Saturday at about 04:00 GMT.

Families of the victims are being supported by specially trained family liaison officers.

The seven victims named by police on Monday are Peter Bowler, 72, Raymond Brown, 71, Romeu de Almeida, 67, Louise de Almeida, 64, Derek Ellis, 61, Sylvia Ellis, 73, and Billy Marsden, 63.

The force said it could not confirm if the fatalities found on site corresponded with the identities released until the disaster victim identification (DVI) process had taken place.

It said the process had to be “carefully considered”, and done in a “dignified and compassionate way”.

The fire service confirmed it attended the flats alongside a gas engineer just after 20:30 GMT on Friday after the smell of gas was reported.

Gas supplier Island Energy said the building was not part of the island’s gas network, but engineers were safety testing its network for potential issues.

Chief executive officer Jo Cox said it would “work with emergency services and the various channels to ensure we are providing the data needed to understand exactly what happened”.

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