Jersey flats explosion: Police name seven victims feared dead after blast

Seven people who are missing and feared to have died in an explosion at a block of flats in Jersey have been named by police.

Peter Bowler, 72, Raymond Brown, 71, Romeu and Louise De Almeida, 67 and 64, Derek and Sylvia Ellis, 61 and 73, and Billy Marsden, 63, have been missing since Saturday.

As well as the seven who have been named, another two people are still thought to be missing.

Police said on Sunday that the emergency services were no longer looking for survivors, and that the search for bodies “will take weeks, not days” and will be “meticulous and painstaking”.

The cause of the explosion is still under investigation, but questions have been asked about a possible gas leak after it emerged that firefighters were called to the block on Friday night when residents smelled gas.

A friend of Mr Brown described him as “a lovely man”.

Terry Le Main told Sky News: “I’ve known Ray for many, many years. He was a quiet, unassuming, lovely man”.

He added: “The whole community is absolutely shattered… It’s a small community where we know everybody.

“To think that these decent, good people have suffered, it’s a tragedy.”

Mr Le Main said he also knew Derek and Sylvia Ellis and had gone to their wedding.

“They were a lovely, lovely couple. Just ordinary, good, hard-working people. It’s tragic, I’m really distraught today.”

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Firefighters, specialist rescue teams and dogs have been searching through the wreckage of the residential block.

Police have described the scene on Pier Road as one of “utter devastation”.

Around 40 people are being housed in alternative accommodation after the blast.

The authorities have said they are in contact with the families of those who are confirmed to have died, but the victims are yet to be named.

Gas network tested

Jersey’s fire chief Paul Brown acknowledged something had gone “horribly wrong” and said his service will be “cooperating fully” with investigations into the cause of the blast.

He confirmed firefighters were called to the building at around 8.30pm on Friday night and had carried out investigations after residents reported smelling gas.

The explosion happened around seven and a half hours later.

An urgent safety check of Jersey’s gas network is also being carried out.

Island Energy, which supplies gas to the Channel Islands, said engineers will continue the tests over the next few days.

Jo Cox, its chief executive, said the company would carry out its own investigation alongside the official inquiries.

“Our engineers are safety-testing the island’s gas network, and this will be completed in the next few days,” she said.

“No issues have been detected in the survey so far.”

The explosion was the second tragedy in Jersey in recent days, after a skipper and two crew members were killed when their fishing boat collided with a freight vessel.