Thornton Heath: Sahara Salman named locally as girl killed in gas blast

Neighbours of a family whose home was destroyed in a gas blast have been told they face weeks living in hotels, as a girl who was killed in the explosion was named locally as Sahara Salman.

Sahara, believed to be four years old, died on Monday morning at her terraced home in Thornton Heath, south London.

Three other people sustained life-threatening injuries in the blast.

About 80 homes have been evacuated for safety reasons, as response teams wait for the remaining gas to dissipate.

Police say the supply to Galpin's Road has been turned off for this reason, while Merton Council says it has provided help to more than 200 residents.

The council said Southern Gas Networks (SGN) workers also remain at the scene.

Those displaced are likely to be in hotels for weeks, the council has said.

Nick and Maria Hillman, who live about 40 houses down from the destroyed property, said there was a strong smell of gas on the street when they were evacuated.

Mr Hillman said: "SGN said that anything could ignite - the gas levels were unacceptably high and anything could ignite, it would cause another explosion."

On Tuesday, local MP Siobhain McDonagh said there was "a lot of anger" about delays in resolving the gas leak, which was reported last month.

Merton Council leader Ross Garrod said the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) told him the situation had not stabilised since the explosion, and criticised insurance companies for "refusing basic accommodation" for those affected.

Speaking on Tuesday evening, Mr Garrod said: "This morning the Health and Safety Executive attended Galpin's Road to begin investigations. Southern Gas Networks also remain on site."

He added: "There is still a strong smell of gas and we understand the leak may take some days to stop.

"I would like to stress that this is a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of residents.

"We are also facing real challenges, not least among [them] the response of insurance companies, many of whom are refusing basic accommodation for homeowners."

The Reverend Deji Ayorinde, of the nearby Pollards Hill Baptist Church, described Sahara's death as "unnecessary".

He said he hoped she could "stand for a change... whereby those in positions of influence, authority and responsibility can actually take ownership and particularly listen to the voice of the individuals".

Mr Ayorinde added: "We saw it with Lakanal in 2009, we saw it with Grenfell in 2017, we're seeing it in Galpin's in 2022.

"And it's like, for goodness' sake, you people in authority, people in responsibility, when will you actually just be responsible and listen to the voices of the individuals?

"It didn't need to cost lives for change to happen, it didn't need to. So that's where we're at. That's where I'm at."

SGN said previously that it understood the local community had also been "deeply affected" by the "serious incident", adding that it would like to "reassure everyone we are working closely with investigators and assisting the emergency services".

It added: "SGN will continue to have a presence on site in the coming days.

"Given the ongoing police investigation, we are unable to comment any further at this stage."

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