Thornton Heath: Residents to return to homes after fatal gas blast

Some of the residents evacuated after a fatal gas explosion in south London are to be allowed to return to their homes.

Sahara Salman, a four-year-old girl, died when one of the houses on Galpin's Road, Thornton Heath, collapsed.

About 80 homes near the site of the blast were cordoned off as a safety precaution after it happened on Monday morning.

The first families will be allowed back over the weekend after around 30 houses were declared "gas safe".

The returning residents will be escorted by gas engineers and police officers wearing bodycams to assist with the investigation into the explosion.

Merton Council, the police, fire brigade and representatives from Southern Gas Networks (SGN) and the Health and Safety Executive have held a series of meetings amid mounting community frustration.

Sahara's mother, Sana Ahmad, and neighbours have accused SGN of "negligence" by failing to act on months of complaints about the smell of gas.

SGN previously said its engineers were "working closely with the emergency services to establish the cause of the explosion".

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