Building collapse: Terraced shop reduced to rubble
12:30pm Wednesday 24th June 2009 in News
RUBBLE: The tangled remains of the building strewn across the road, which was cordoned off by police last night
SCENES of chaos erupted on a busy Bolton road when a building collapsed and a gas pipe cracked last night.
The terraced shop in Halliwell Road, Halliwell, was reduced to rubble at 7pm, just hours after workmen dug below foundation level. The collapse led to electricity being turned off amid fears of an explosion. And police were called as the road closures sparked traffic chaos.
A demolition crew was called in to clear the rubble so engineers from National Grid could reach and isolate the leak.
Eyewitness, Firoz Buksh, aged 35, from Great Lever, said: “You could see bits of brick falling and cracks appearing in the building. Only two minutes later it collapsed. There was a big plume of smoke.
“It was like something in a film, it literally just crumbled. I was really shocked, but just glad no one was injured.”
The emergency services were initially called to the scene yesterday morning when a section of interior wall collapsed into a hole which had been dug inside the shop by workmen.
The debris fractured a gas pipe, prompting fears of a possible explosion. The building was also labelled dangerous by council inspectors.
Scaffolding was erected to secure it and fire crews were asked to remain at the scene in case there was an explosion.
A 900-metre cordon was put in place and people who lived or worked in the immediate area evacuated.
Among them were staff from Halliwell Food and Wine on one side, and workers at Exquisite Blinds on the other.
Phillip Taziker, aged 18, and his girlfriend Samantha Singleton, aged 17, who is four months pregnant, were evacuated from their flat next door. He said: “We got up and found huge cracks down the walls. They were so big you could see through them. I was worried it would collapse while we were in it.
“Then we found out there was a problem with the gas pipe and we had to be evacuated.”
Events took a dramatic twist at around 7pm when the building collapsed completely.
Police were called and the road closed between Stewart Street and Mason Street. Dozens of residents were advised to leave their homes, but many stayed in the area to watch events unfold.
Aktar Bagasi, aged 28, of Halliwell, said he was the owner of the shop at the centre of the collapse and that he had been refurbishing it. He said: “I am really upset. I put a lot of passion into that work. I’m worried about the other people affected, especially the neighbours. I’m pleased no one was hurt, that’s the main thing.”
Station Commander, firefighter Dave Fraser-Jones, said he expected the road to remain closed until this morning.
Another of the evacuees, John Westhead, aged 33, of Kempston Gardens, Halliwell, said: “I was going up to the shop when it happened.
“Then I heard a loud crash. A few minutes later I was told we were being evacuated and I haven’t been allowed home since.”
A bus was placed on standby at the cordon to ferry people to the nearby Ucan Centre in Brownlow Fold, where emergency accommodation was being prepared for evacuees.
But most of them were allowed back to their homes late last night and did not need it.
A building inspector from Bolton Council’s building control department, said: “This is an unusual incident.”
