Thornton Heath: Neighbours of child killed in explosion ‘strongly smelled gas’

Neighbours of a four-year-old girl killed in a gas explosion in Thornton Heath have told how they could “strongly smell gas” for the last week before the horror incident.

Residents of Galpins Road, where the child died following an explosion early yesterday morning (Monday, August 8) said there had been a smell of gas for a week.

An explosion ripped through two houses on the road at just after 7am, killing a four-year-old girl, the London Fire Brigade and Met Police confirmed.

Charlie Camdell, 36, who lives four doors down from the blast, said: “Every morning I get up at 5am and I start my normal routine.

“I was in the front room when the inside of our window shattered.

“My partner said ‘there’s been a gas explosion’ because she’d been smelling the gas for a few days.”

Ms Camdell added: “I can’t smell anything at all now.

“I have seen people maintaining it and they had dug into the road before it. For the last week or so you could really strongly smell gas.

“Someone was shouting ‘what about my child’ and they were just crying saying ‘they can’t find her body’.”

A Met Police spokesperson said the child’s next of kin had been informed and are being supported by specially trained officers.

They said: “An investigation into the cause of the incident, alongside colleagues from the London Fire Brigade, remains ongoing.

“Road closures will remain in place around the scene while this work continues.”