Condition of man seriously injured in Benwell home blast improves
by Sophie Doughty · ChronicleLiveThe condition of a man who was seriously injured in the Benwell explosion is now improving.
Seven-year-old Archie York and Jason Laws, 35, were killed in the blast, which destroyed several homes on Violet Close two weeks ago. Six people were taken to hospital following the early morning incident. And while five were discharged soon after, one man, who is in his 30s is still being treated.
His condition had been described as "critical", but the Chronicle understands his injuries are no longer thought to be life-threatening and his condition has improved.
The cause of the explosion, which forced dozens of people to leave their homes, is today being investigated. And yesterday a senior firefighter described the incident as the most challenging crews had attended in recent years.
Speaking at a Fire Authority Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service's assistant chief fire officer Lynsey McVay said: "It was a really emotive incident, emotions were really high throughout. That was predominantly because there were missing people and a missing child.
"It was a challenging incident, the most challenging we have had in recent years because time was of the essence and we had to try and locate those that were missing. Sadly we found the young child who was there and then later in the day the adult male [who were both found dead at the scene]."
Today the scene of the explosion remains cordoned off as investigations continue.
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