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Vandals attacked house hours before blast
The house at the centre of a mystery explosion that left one man dead was targeted by vandals just hours before the blast.
Police said a purple liquid was poured through a letterbox about ten hours before the property in Stanley Road, South Harrow, northwest London, was levelled.
Detective Chief Inspector Colin Sutton said the terraced home is at the centre of the investigation into the explosion, which destroyed two other houses on Wednesday night.
Speaking at the scene, DCI Sutton said a 17-year-old girl who lived in a flat in the property was the likely target of any attack. One resident called police earlier that day to complain about a gang of teenage girls gathered outside.
The injured teenager, named locally as Charlotte, was pulled from the rubble of number 21 Stanley Road by neighbours after the explosion. She was taken to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital with severe burns.
Her next-door neighbour, 26-year-old businessman Emad Qureshi, was killed by the blast shortly after 9.30pm.
Police were originally called after reports of a gas explosion, but engineers could find no fault with the mains supply. Murder squad officers were brought in to investigate the blast and police said the cause is being treated as suspicious.
Mr Sutton said the complaint about the gang of girls causing trouble was made at 11am and the liquid was poured through the door between 9am and 11am.
London Fire Brigade recovered the dead man's body from the scene last night after structural engineers made the properties safe. A post-mortem examination on the body is due to be carried out in the next two days.
Shocked neighbours dug through smoking rubble with their bare hands after the explosion shook their homes.
At least 40 people remained in temporary hotel accommodation last night as recovery work continued.
A 26-year-old man, a friend of Mr Qureshi, is receiving treatment at Northwick Park Hospital after suffering serious head injuries.
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