Thornton Heath: Residents evacuated over deadly blast unable to return home

Dozens of residents evacuated after a gas explosion killed a child on their street have not been able to go home almost one month on.

Sahara Salman, a four-year-old girl, died when one of the houses on Galpin's Road, Thornton Heath, collapsed.

About 500 people had to leave their homes while the leak was fixed after last month's blast.

One resident said "around 50 people" are still living in hotels 26 days later.

Merton Council said that this was due to the cul-de-sac being inaccessible to emergency services vehicles, rather than due to the houses being structurally unsound.

Tristan Simms, 31, has been staying in a hotel since the explosion on Monday 8 August, and he feels "on edge", while his neighbours who have returned are "scared to turn on their cookers".

His family has been told by the council that their earliest return date is 14 October.

Mr Simms said: "We're still in the same predicament, we have no exact answer as to how long we're going to be here.

"I still jump up when someone knocks on the door - I don't feel settled. We're on edge.

"We're going into winter and we need to prepare, we've got no jackets because we can't go home. We've got to buy a lot of these things again.

"The communication is really not great, and as the residents we are the ones who are pulling together with our own little group chat to get things in order."

House number 255 was destroyed by the explosion, while two neighbouring terraced homes suffered extensive damage and several more suffered smashed windows.

The gas company responsible for supplying the street, Southern Gas Networks (SGN), previously donated £500,000 to help the council support affected neighbours.

The Metropolitan Police's Specialist Crime Command has launched a criminal investigation into the explosion.

Merton Council has been contacted for comment.

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