A body has been found following a desperate search for a woman trapped under rubble after an explosion levelled a townhouse.
The massive blast occurred on the second level of the property on Waikanda Crescent in Whalan, in Sydney’s west, about 1pm on Saturday.
Jasmin Mhey, 30, was identified on Sunday evening as the missing woman believed to have been trapped in the rubble of the decimated building.
NSW Police provided an update to the search revealing a woman’s body had been found at about 3.20am on Monday.
The woman is yet to be formally identified. A report will be prepared for the information of the Coroner.
The horrific explosion was heard streets away and shattered the glass of neighbouring buildings. Five other people were treated at the scene by paramedics.
Jasmin Mhey, 30, was identified on Sunday evening as the missing woman believed to have been trapped in the rubble of the decimated building
The massive blast occurred on the second level of the property on Waikanda Crescent in Whalan, in Sydney’s west, about 1pm on Saturday
Ms Mhey’s distraught mother, who has kept a vigil across the street with a close eye on the search effort, told neighbours she had reported the smell of gas in the building and in the street in recent months.
Neighbours described the moment she returned to the house.
‘She (the mother) was on her hands and knees screaming for her daughter,’ a neighbour said.
‘She wouldn’t leave, she sat here in the rain and cold all night saying she wasn’t going until her daughter was out’.
Emergency services responded to a call on Saturday following reports of an explosion having ‘blown out’ a level of the unit.
The rescue teams braved the heavy rain and cold and worked overnight, in a bid to find the woman trapped underneath the debris.
Fire and Rescue, ambulances, HAZMAT, police, gas and energy personnel were able to enter the building on Saturday afternoon only after gas was cut to the area, which took several hours.
FRNSW teams trained in Urban Search and Rescue operations using concrete-cutters to clear the debris recovered a small dog from the units which is being cared for at the scene.
The search and rescue effort was hampered late on Saturday afternoon due to the bad weather.
On Sunday, police announced that the search area was a crime scene and officers had closed off the street.
Early indications suggest the explosion may be the result of a gas leak, however the actual cause is yet to be officially determined.
Early indications suggest the explosion may be the result of a gas leak, however the actual cause is yet to be officially determined (pictured, townhouse before the explosion)
Emergency services (pictured) braved the heavy rain and cold and worked overnight in a bid to find the woman trapped underneath the debris
Paramedics treated five people at the scene after they suffered injuries following the explosion.
Two women were rescued from the collapsed structure’s rubble – a woman in her 60s and another woman in her 70s who uses a wheelchair.
The two women were taken to hospital in St George and Hawkesbury but they have since been released.
Another 12 people from surrounding properties were evacuated, as the blast damaged nearby houses and apartment buildings.
Ambulance NSW told Daily Mail Australia five people were taken to hospital after the blast – three transported to Mount Druitt Hospital and another three to Hawkesbury District District Health Service. Their current conditions are unknown.
Another person was treated at the scene.
Whalan resident Kathleen Morris said the sound of the explosion was massive.
‘I heard a big bang and the whole house shook, everybody came out of their house, wondering what had happened,’ she said.
A resident told the Courier Mail that the explosion ‘shook my home four streets away’.
One person on social media said they heard the blast from their yard in Lethbridge Park which is 2.5km away while another said they heard it 9.4km away in St Clair.
Residents said the explosion was ‘massive’ while others who live in suburbs several kilometres away also felt the tremor (pictured the debris of the collapsed townhouse in Whalan)
Terry Fisher, who was working around the corner at time, told the publication that he rushed towards the unit block when he heard a loud bang.
‘I was working around the corner and heard a very loud explosion,’ he said. ‘It shook the house I was in, two streets away.’
‘It was definitely a shock to see half the house blown apart, I knew something big happened, as I had never felt an explosion that big.’
Fire and Rescue NSW urged the public to stay away from the building as the scene remained volatile and unstable.
‘The gas supply has been cut at the scene of an explosion…allowing Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) teams to enter and search the area,’ they said.
‘There is no fire at present but the scene remains volatile and unstable.’
