Hinckley Road explosion: Memorial to people killed in Leicester

The entire building in Hinckley Road was destroyed by the explosion

A permanent memorial has been unveiled close to the site of an explosion which killed five people.

Mary Ragoobeer, her two sons, Shane and Sean, Shane's girlfriend Leah Reek and shop worker Viktorija Ijevleva all died in the blast in Hinckley Road, Leicester, in February 2018.

A plaque has now been placed on land opposite the shop and flat where a makeshift memorial had been created.

Councillor Ted Cassidy had campaigned for the permanent tribute.

"This was a very lovely family and they died tragically at the beginning of their adult lives," said Mr Cassidy.

"The community was shocked and in a sense this is part of the community's recovery."

The Ragoobeer family and Leah Reek had been in their flat when the shop blast happened

Mr Cassidy said the site had become an area where friends of the young people who died would regularly light candles and hold vigils, which is why it was chosen for the permanent memorial.

"It's somewhere people can sit and reflect on the lives of those young people and Mary," he added.

Councillor Ted Cassidy campaigned to have a permanent memorial to those who died

The building has now been demolished but Daniel Bennett, who was a friend of Sean Ragoobeer, said the memorial was important for everyone in the community.

"It's something permanent," he said. "It shows that whatever happens throughout time they will never be forgotten.

"It'll be in the area forever and everybody will be able to look it and say this is for them and they will always be remembered.

"The Ragoobeer family's legacy will go on."

Daniel Bennett said the Ragoobeer family's legacy would live on through the memorial

The 21-year-old said hearing of Sean's death was "heartbreaking" but everyone had helped each other cope with the grief.

"There were so many services at school, neighbours, friends and family all stepped together and we all got really close," he added.

"We have made new friends out of it, with Shane's group of friends.

"Just sticking with each other has been important and helped everybody."

Ms Reek had been visiting her boyfriend, who lived with his family in a flat above the shop, when the explosion happened.

Mary Ragoobeer's third son, Scotty, who was 15 at the time, survived after he was pulled out of the rubble by police and members of the public just before the blast site was engulfed by flames.

Three men were jailed for murder in 2018 after they were found guilty of blowing up the shop in a £300,000 insurance scam.

The trial had heard Ms Ijevleva, who had been in a relationship with one of the men and knew of their plan, was "left to die because she knew too much".