A WOMAN is lucky to be alive after a gas blast reduced her Astley Bridge home to a smouldering ruin.
The force of the explosion blew off the roof of Patricia Rawlinson's flat, destroyed five rooms, shattered windows and hurled debris 25 yards across the road below.
The 55-year-old woman was rescued from the devastation by the licensee of the pub next door and one of his customers after part of the terraced property in Blackburn Road collapsed.
She suffered appalling burns and is "poorly but stable" at Whiston Hospital, St Helens.
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