Firefighters called to gas explosion in north London

A flat in Newington Green was the scene of a suspected gas explosion last week, leading to home evacuations and roads in the area to be cordoned off.

The blast is said to have destroyed the ground-floor flat in the residential area of Aden Green around 6pm on Monday evening and firefighters from the London Fire Brigade were called out immediately.

The five-storey block of flats had to be evacuated, with more than 40 people affected. An emergency shelter was set up at Stoke Newington Town Hall for those who could not return to their homes straight away.

At the time, fire crews admitted that not everybody had been accounted for, but the Metropolitan Police had not been made aware of anyone being injured in the explosion.

The police later confirmed that there had been a gas explosion at the flat, with all its windows blown out, but this had not resulted in a fire.

Some witnesses reported smelling gas and hearing a hissing sound just before the powerful blast occurred.

After the explosion, people were spotted running into the street to see what had caused such a large bang, which shook a number of properties in the vicinity.