A seven-year-old boy has died after an explosion in a residential street in Newcastle.
Police say six people were taken to hospital following the explosion and subsequent fire in Violet Close in the early hours of this morning.
Drone images shared on social media suggests two properties were almost completely levelled by the blast in the Elswick area of the city.
Piles of debris could be seen on the street outside.
Specialist gas engineers have been at the scene, and a fire service van marked “search dogs” was parked nearby.
Northumbria Police said it was called to the scene by the fire service at around 12.45am today.
Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service said around an hour later that it had several fire engines at the scene. It urged people to avoid the area and keep their windows and doors closed.
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The North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) said that it also arrived at 12.45am and had taken three adults and one child to hospital following the explosion.
Police later said a total of six people were taken to hospital and a number of others were evacuated from the area.
Firefighters have been using a jet to damp down the scene of the fire which was still smouldering this morning.
A family friend of some of the victims said there had been a “devastating explosion”.
Andy Riches, a safety steward at Newcastle United, has set up an online fundraiser in aid of the occupants of one of the homes affected.
He is friends with the grandfather of a couple with two children who live in one of the flats, and said: “They have lost everything.”
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