Jersey explosion
\nThree people confirmed dead after blast at block of flats in St Helier, and 12 are still missing
\n Jersey
\nEmergency services in Jersey are treating an explosion at a block of flats as a \u201crecovery operation\u201d rather than search and rescue, the police chief has said, with 12 people still missing.
\nThree people were confirmed dead on Saturday after the blast at Haut du Mont, Pier Road, in the capital, St Helier.
\nOn Sunday morning, Robin Smith, the chief of Jersey police, said: \u201cIt is with sadness that I am confirming that the search and rescue operation had been moved to a recovery operation.
\n\u201cThe decision was made after a detailed assessment and following the use of specialist K9 units.
\n\u201cDisaster victim identification strategies are in place and specialist officers are surveying the scene with fire and ambulance services and tactical advisers from urban search and rescue.\u201d
\nThe blast occurred at about 4am on Saturday, less than eight hours after firefighters had been called to the site over concerns from residents, it was confirmed.
\nTwo people who were in hospital on Saturday were discharged, with one other person receiving treatment for non-serious injuries.
\nIn a press conference on Saturday afternoon alongside the head of the fire, police and ambulance services, the island\u2019s chief minister, Kristina Moore, said it was an \u201cunimaginable tragedy\u201d for the Channel Island.
\nShe added: \u201cThis is going to take some days and we will keep everyone updated and fully informed, and we will do our very best to ensure everybody is properly looked after.\u201d
\nSpecialist equipment was mobilised to find anyone trapped in the rubble, according to the police, helped by an urban search and rescue team from southern England.
\nOn Saturday Smith said the scene was one of \u201ccomplete devastation\u201d.
\nPolice said the site remained \u201chighly unsafe\u201d, with \u201cpockets of fire\u201d discovered hours after the \u201cvery, very significant\u201d explosion.
\nThe chief fire officer, Paul Brown, added: \u201cThe primary challenge is the fact that we have a dangerous structure that has collapsed \u2026 Anything that we do, or do in the wrong way, may then jeopardise the chance of survival of anyone who might be rescued.\u201d
\nThe operation would continue \u201cfor days, maybe weeks\u201d, Smith said, and added that it was \u201cimportant to have resources to continue to keep going\u201d.
\nBrown also revealed firefighters were called to the scene at 8.36pm on Friday, and an investigation was carried out.
\nAsked if this had anything to do with the explosion, he said: \u201cI can confirm that the fire and rescue service did attend. I don\u2019t know the exact number of firefighters, but they did attend.
\n\u201cI know that they did conduct investigations, but I think at the moment what I\u2019m focused on is just the emergency response.
\n\u201cI will give you an answer to that but what I\u2019d like to do for the moment is focus on the emergency response, talk to my colleagues and consider those bits that are subject to investigation \u2013 and make sure I don\u2019t tell you something that I need to tell someone else first.\u201d
\nSmith said it would not be helpful to speculate about what happened at this stage. The cause of the explosion remains unknown.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Jersey explosion Three people confirmed dead after blast at block of flats in St Helier, and 12 are still missing Jersey Emergency services in Jersey are treating an explosion at a block of flats as a \u201crecovery operation\u201d rather than search and rescue, the police chief has said, with 12 people still missing. Three people […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":300692,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-300669","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n