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Council tenant dies in hospital after Wandsworth explosion
A council tenant taken to hospital after an explosion on an estate in Wandsworth has died, authorities have confirmed.
A flat on the Burtop Road Estate, which is owned by Wandsworth Borough Council, was damaged by a suspected gas explosion last week.
Last Wednesday morning, four fire engines and around 25 firefighters from Tooting, Croydon and Wimbledon fire stations were called to the estate, according to a statement from the London Fire Brigade (LFB).
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They rescued a man from the flat where the explosion took place, and he was taken to hospital that morning.
In an updated version of the statement published on Monday, the LFB confirmed that the man, who police say was in his 80s, later died.
According to the LFB’s statement, another man from an adjacent flat was also taken to hospital after leaving his home before firefighters arrived.
Two other people were injured as a result of the incident but were not taken to hospital.
A council spokesperson confirmed that the man who died was a council tenant but was in his daughter’s flat, beneath his own, while she was abroad.
They added that all the gas safety checks and boiler servicings were up to date and in order, and that the other flats in the building, which is made from a concrete frame and brick infill, were ready for reoccupation the same day.
The fire brigade and Metropolitan Police Service are still investigating the cause of the explosion.
