Thornton Heath gas blast hero still in hotel six months on

Delroy Simms, 62, (left) and Kutoya Kukanda, 50, helped rescue children from rubble after the blast

A man who risked his life to rescue children after a fatal gas explosion in south London is still living in a hotel six months on from the blast.

Four-year-old Sahara Salman was killed when a house on Galpin's Road, Thornton Heath, collapsed on 8 August.

Delroy Simms and his family are one of 29 households still in temporary accommodation and said it was "torture" not knowing when they could go home.

Merton Council says 12 households are set to return by the end of the month.

More than 500 people had to be evacuated from their homes following the blast.

Sahara Salman died in the blast

Mr Simms was hailed as a "hero" by his neighbours when he risked his life to rescue children from the rubble while still wearing his pyjamas.

He is currently living in a Croydon hotel with his wife, their two adult sons and 15-year-old daughter.

The 63-year-old said he had thought he would be home within "a few weeks", but "it's almost been torture, wanting to go home and you can't".

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"Day in day out, living in one room - it's horrible. Going to work is how I keep my sanity," he said.

"I'm just missing my home, more than anything else. Although I'm in a hotel, it feels like I haven't got one."

He added his daughter was also having to deal with the stress of doing her GCSEs, "so she's under a lot of pressure with her school work".

A terraced house collapsed after the blast

Sahara Salman's family are also currently having to live with relatives.

Merton Council said it was "working closely with every family to help them into long-term accommodation", and expected that 12 of the 29 households in temporary accommodation would return home by the end of the month.

"The remaining properties are undertaking significant rebuilding work, and three houses were totally destroyed," the council said.

It added the main reasons for the delay were the scale of the explosion and the fact a cordon had remained in place around 48 houses until the end of October, which delayed insurance loss adjusters and surveyors getting on site.

The blast ripped through this terraced house

Mr Simms added not knowing "who was to blame for the blast" was holding up work on damaged properties like his own because insurers were "not willing to throw money at anything".

"They wanted us to go back into our property, believe it or not, and do the work around us, but our house, after the blast is not habitable," he said.

Police inquiry ongoing

Gas company SGN said it had given hotel accommodation to residents, food and fuel vouchers and a donation of £500,000 to the council.

A spokesperson added: "We understand this continues to be an incredibly challenging period for the Galpin's Road community, particularly for those who have not been able to return to their homes.

"In the past six months, we've liaised closely with Merton Council, which is the lead agency for supporting households since the explosion."

A Met Police investigation into the tragedy is currently ongoing.

Det Ch Insp Katherine Goodwin described it as "an extremely complex investigation", but "we are committed to providing answers to the people of Galpin's Road as expeditiously as we can".

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