A gas explosion destroyed a Chinese takeaway building in Derry on Saturday morning. The blast ripped through Cheung's Garden takeaway along the Strand Road just after 9.00 a.m. The emergency services said it was a miracle that only one man, in an adjoining building, was slightly injured in the explosion.
Five ambulances, six fire engines and dozens of police officers rushed to the scene of the blast. They started digging through the rubble with their bare hands to determine if anyone was still trapped.
The rescue workers were, however, forced to withdraw temporarily from the scene because of fears of a secondary blast, and because of the possibility that the remainder of the building would collapse on them.
Diggers were called in to remove the rubble. The police and fire service also used specialist search-and-rescue units.
As well as destroying the Chinese takeaway building, adjoining business premises as well as nearby shops, houses and an aparthotel sustained either structural or peripheral blast damage. Dozens of windows in nearby buildings were blown in and several hundred people were evacuated from their homes after the explosion.
The blast also threw rubble across the four-lane Strand Road, one of the busiest thoroughfares in Derry.
Mr Alan Cahill, divisional officer with the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service, said it was a miracle that no one was killed.
"This explosion took place just after nine o'clock. Half an hour earlier people going into the city centre to work would have been caught up in it.
"Half an hour later, people going to shop would have been caught up in it.
"We could very easily have been looking at a multi-casualty disaster here.
"Fortunately only one man, who was in an adjoining building, sustained a slight injury to his hand.
"It was a very difficult operation for the emergency services. There was always the fear of the remainder of the building collapsing, and during the rescue operation there was a constant smell of gas," he said.
Insp Trevor McKeown said police officers joined with the ambulance and fire services in getting on their knees to search the rubble.
"We starting receiving a lot of 999 calls just after nine o'clock. When we arrived at the scene it was one of total devastation. Our immediate priority was to ascertain if anyone was trapped under the rubble and to check in nearby properties to see if there were any casualties there. Fortunately there was none.
"We carried out an evacuation of nearby houses and then continued our search for potential casualties. Fortunately no one was in the takeaway building at the time. We would say it is not only remarkable but also miraculous that nobody was seriously injured or killed as a result of this explosion.
"The explosion went right across the street and has damaged many premises opposite and there has also been substantial damage to several other properties," he said.