ONE of the men who pulled a father and his young daughter from the rubble of a house destroyed by a gas explosion has spoken of the ordeal.

Darren Williams, from Howards Grove, was the second person on the scene and lives in the house directly behing the once which was torn apart by the blast.

The 38-year-old heard a 'big boom' which prompted him to run outside, where he joined five other people in trying to rescue the dad and his little girl.

Daily Echo:

He said: “I came downstairs and opened my front door and the house had been dismantled basically. And then there was a chap in the pile of rubble and he asked me to come over and help him so I ran over as soon as I could. He had already got the little girl out.

“There was a bloke also in there so we started pulling some of the rubble from underneath him, we were afraid it would come down on top of him so we had to be careful.

“All the rubble had gone down on top of him and we were just pulling the rubble off and trying to get him out as quickly as we could.

“I could barely just see the bloke, he was lying on his back with his legs in the air. He was conscious and the little girl was a little bit frightened and scared.

“She was a little bit scratched and cut but that’s all. He was also scratched and cut.

“We managed to get them out and that was the main thing.

“They were very lucky that they didn’t get any more hurt than they were.

“It was all hands on deck to see if anyone else was in there. We asked the bloke when we got him out if there was anyone else and he said no.

“He was a bit shaken up.

“I was afraid, I was worried for my kids as well, I was thinking we shouldn’t be here but thought ‘I’ll help to get this bloke out and then get out myself’. There was some people moving away but we were all trying to help the bloke and find out if there was anyone else there.

“I don’t think I was brave. I just think I was doing my part and helping out. At the end of the day, if you see someone in distress you should help out.

“We were all frantic."

Darren, who has only recently moved in to the area, says the windows of his own home were blown out in the blast and Darren and his family cannot yet return to their own home due to being evacuated.