Jersey explosion: Seven victims named by police

Top row, left to right: Derek and Sylvia Ellis, Romeu and Louise de Almeida. Bottom row, left to right: Raymond Brown, Billy Marsden and Peter Bowler

Seven of the nine people feared dead or missing after an explosion that destroyed a block of flats in Jersey have been named by police.

They are Peter Bowler, 72, Raymond Brown, 71, Romeu de Almeida, 67, Louise de Almeida, 64, Derek Ellis, 61, Sylvia Ellis, 73, and Billy Marsden, 63.

Jersey police said the families of the seven had agreed to the release.

It said the other missing islanders would be named at a later date.

Nine people were believed to have been in the flats when they exploded. Jersey police said four of them were still missing and at least five people were known to have died. They warned they did not expect to find survivors.

The explosion happened at the three-storey Haut du Mont residential block on Pier Road, St Helier, on Saturday at about 04:00 GMT.

Tony Palmer said he knew Peter Bowler through his judo club, and that the news of what had happened had "knocked him for six".

A recovery operation has continued at the blast scene throughout Monday

He said: "He was only a white belt, he was just starting out, but he was such a lovely nature...

"He was calming and he'd get on with what he was doing but he'd have a laugh... I'd never see him lose his temper, he was so placid... One of those nice guys."

Gas supplier Island Energy confirmed the flats had not been on the island's gas network, but added that engineers were safety testing the network and that "no issues had been detected" so far.

Jo Cox, chief executive officer, said on Monday: "I want to reassure people we believe that this was an isolated incident and not an issue with our gas network.

"We will work with emergency services and the various channels to ensure we are providing the data needed to understand exactly what happened."

Tony Palmer said Peter Bowler had started judo aged 71 and was "very outgoing"

Derek Shearer who lives at the Haut du Mont site said he had been rehomed until he was able to go back.

"Terrible, when you're that close to people that have been killed," he said.

Mr Shearer said he did not know his neighbours "that well" but that they were "all nice people".

He said he had told it would likely be "weeks" before he could return home.

"We may not be able to go back into those places... just because ours is still standing doesn't mean to say there's no structural problems in there," he said.

Derek Shearer said it was "terrible" knowing his neighbours had died so suddenly

Islanders have been paying respects to those involved in the blast by leaving floral tributes on the steps of Ordnance Yard.

People gathered for a minute's silence at 11:00 GMT on Monday and flags will be flown at half-mast until sunset on 23 December, the Government of Jersey said.

Books of condolence are also being made available at parish and public halls and a vigil will be held on Wednesday at Town Church.

A spokesperson for Andium Homes which runs the residential block, said their thoughts and prayers were with those who lost their lives in the "devastating incident".

They said 42 residents had to relocate from the site, the majority of which it had provided with alternative accommodation.

They said they received no reports of leaks or smells of gas the day before the incident or at any other time and added that they had not been carrying out any significant maintenance works at Haut du Mont.

Firefighters and a gas engineer had been to the flats on Friday evening after a smell of gas had been reported and Island Energy said standard procedures had been followed.

The explosion happened just two days after three local fishermen went missing after a crash between their fishing boat and a ferry.

Follow BBC Jersey on Twitter and Facebook. Send your story ideas to [e-mail].