Investigators suspect that gas leak caused explosion at London hotel

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/nov/22/investigators-suspect-gas-leak-explosion-london-hotel

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National Grid and the London fire brigade are investigating whether a gas leak caused an explosion at a top London hotel late on Friday night.

The incident left 14 staff injured and forced 500 guests of the five-star Churchill Hyatt Regency on Portman Square near Marble Arch on to the streets just before midnight. Five were taken to nearby St Mary’s hospital for treatment.

The explosion caused part of the 434-room hotel to collapse. The property was evacuated following the incident and guests moved to other nearby hotels.

Jeanette Unsworth, a National Grid spokeswoman, said its investigators had not yet been able to enter the kitchen area in the basement of the hotel because of the amount of structural damage caused by the explosion.

Structural engineers were assessing the damage in the basement, where an internal wall or ceiling may have collapsed.

A spokesman for London fire brigade said the explosion was thought to have been caused by a gas leak but an investigation was continuing. About 80 firefighters attended the scene at the height of the incident.

One guest described the scene outside the hotel, where room cost about £265 a night, as chaos after the explosion.

Raymund Reyes, 40, said the explosion had come as a shock: “The floor shook and there was a loud explosion simultaneously. The power went out, it was pitch dark. We went down the stairs. On the first flight people were kind of panicked. I thought it was a drill, but then I thought - there’s something wrong. We get down here and there’s chaos. I was outside for a good hour and a half.”

He said that guests had been told to change flights scheduled for Saturday to tomorrow.

Nawaf Albarrak, 32, from Saudi Arabia, felt the explosion from his room in the Radisson hotel across the street, where many Hyatt guests were now staying. “There were people in pyjamas and people without coats. They took people inside and gave them blankets - I think they did well.”

Staff were retrieving belongings from guests’ rooms on Saturday, but owners of cars parked in the basement were told it was too dangerous to retrieve them.

Hyatt is expected to make a statement later on Saturday.

Berkeley Mews remained closed to traffic, and broken glass and rubble was still visible on the ground near the site of the explosion.