See the link for pictures of what's left of the house; it looks like something out of the Blitz.
Police in Manchester are treating as suspicious an explosion that ripped through a terraced house in which a young child was killed and a man gravely injured in the village of Shaw, near Oldham, on Tuesday.
The explosion was initially suspected to have been caused by a gas leak, but police confirmed they are treating the death of the two-year-old boy as suspicious.
A spokesman for Greater Manchester police said numbers nine and 11 Buckley Street were "significantly damaged in the explosion".
"Sadly, the body of a young child, believed to be two years old, was found inside one of the houses," the spokesman said. "At this time, detectives are treating his death as suspicious. Another man, aged 27, was taken to hospital for treatment to burn injuries and remains in a serious but stable condition." The injured man is not believed to be related to the child, the police added.
Although the search was continuing, police did not think anyone else was missing. Superintendent Neil Evans said their thoughts are with the family of the boy who has died. "His loved ones are absolutely distraught," he said. "We will provide them with whatever support we can at what is clearly a very difficult and upsetting time. This incident has shocked the community of Shaw."
A further 100 homes were evacuated in the immediate area as the rescue operation, assisted by fire services from Lancashire and Yorkshire, got underway.
The upper levels of the house folded on to the ground floors, scattering debris and shattering windows of nearby houses and shops.
Evans said residents were rallying round and the emergency services are helping those whose homes are damaged. He said there were rumours of a potential domestic disturbance at the house on Monday night, but he said, "If that is the case, the police were not called". He urged anyone with information they think is relevant to get in touch with police.
The dead child was named locally as Jamie Heaton. The injured man, named locally as Anthony Partington, was airlifted to Wythenshawe hospital near Manchester reported to be suffering 80% burns. Neighbours said he was in the house with his youngest child when the explosion occurred.
National Grid said a smell of gas had been reported in the Edmund and Buckley streets area at 10.40am.
"This was shortly followed by another call to report there had been an explosion," the company said. "Engineers arrived on site to find five properties had been badly damaged." The engineers have been unable to get to the properties, but the gas mains have been cut off.
On Tuesday night, the company said it was testing the gas mains and pipes serving homes in the area. Engineers hoped to resume tests on Wednesday morning under the direction of GMP, who are treating the site as a crime scene, National Grid said. Engineers have not been able to enter the five most badly damaged houses and it was not possible to confirm what caused the explosion.
Gas and electricity supplies to the immediate area were disconnected.
Tim Eyre, who works nearby, said he was 200 yards away and heard "a massive bang". He said he looked over and saw the debris in the air. The police arrived quickly, he added.
"At that point, windows were put out, cars were damaged and it basically looked like a bomb had gone off. I didn't think it was a gas explosion – it seemed a bit more devastating." He described the mayhem as cars stopped in the middle of the road and emergency service vehicles tried to get through.
It was initially thought someone was trapped in the wreckage, but Greater Manchester fire and rescue service, using sniffer dogs and special equipment, later said that was not the case.
It is understood that Partington lived at the rented property at No 9 with his partner, Tanya, and six children.
Dean Nankivell, station manager at Greater Manchester fire and rescue service, said: "The scene down there is catastrophic. It's just a great big pile of bricks. Whatever has caused this has gone with some force. Gas is definitely a strong contender. This is looking like a gas explosion. Everybody has been accounted for, we are treating it as a search and rescue, but leading on to the next phase."
Nankivell said there were still unstable structures damaged in the blast, and the job was to shore up the scene to make it safe enough for fire and police investigators to go in and begin their work.
Local authority building control officers will have to be brought in to look at the structural damage to surrounding properties.
Waqar Hussain, whose father, Iltaf Hussain, is the couple's landlord, said the family, including six children, moved into the house around six weeks ago.
Hussain, 23, lives around the corner from the street and was working as a manager at a local warehouse. He had gone home on his 11am break from a local warehouse, and was walking past just moments before the explosion.
He said: "I just got home and at first I just thought it was my ceiling because it collapsed in. I covered my face. I went out and saw everybody's windows smashed and cars in the street wrecked. People were shouting and screaming. I went back in my house to make sure my family was OK and went back outside to the houses.
"Just two minutes before I had walked past, I could have been done in as well. There were tiles, slates, bricks, all over the street."
Susan Teirney, who was visiting her parents in nearby Lyon Street, said the explosion "shook the whole house".
"I saw car doors and bits of black tiles go up in the air," said her sister, Janet Cooke.
Ward councillor Mark Alcock described the accident as "horrendous. Everyone is completely shocked."
A rest centre has been set up nearby at Crompton House school and the council is working with partners to keep residents informed of developments. Anyone who can't return home is advised to consider staying with friends or family in the first instance.
Adam Pollard, 21, received the keys to a property near the blast site on Monday night and was due to move in on Tuesday.
He was gathering belongings at his mother's house 500 yards away and was about to go to his flat when he heard the explosion. "It was the biggest bang I have ever heard, all the windows shook," he said. I could see the smoke and came running up towards my flat."
"I went running on to the rubble, shouting to see if anyone was injured. I couldn't see anyone and there was no fire, just smoke in the air. There was a weird smell, not of gas, like a burning smell."
People reported the smell of gas just before it went up, but the police are treating the explosion as suspicious; that probably means somebody thought breaking in and opening all the gas taps on the stove was a convenient way to commit murder, but then again it might mean something very different. This is one to keep an eye on, I reckon.