Residents in the Christchurch suburb of Northwood reported hearing the deafening gas explosion about 10.20am local time.
When firefighters and police arrived there was nothing left of the house but rubble, with New Zealand police describing the incident as “serious”.
Initial reports suggest six people were taken to hospital, with injuries ranging from serious to critical.
People that were in the house at the time of the explosion reportedly suffered serious burn and blast injuries.
Fifty residents were also evacuated from the area by emergency services.
Footage of the aftermath revealed the complete destruction left behind by the explosion.
Hardly any part of the home was left standing and what was left was engulfed in flames.
Debris was sent flying 100 metres, littering the roofs and backyards of the surrounding houses.
James Looyer, who filmed the aftermath of the explosion, toldStuff.co.nz he had to help pull people from the rubble.
“We shot around there, peeked over the fence and … the people [were] just hanging out of the woodwork and all the framing of the house. We just hopped the fence, and pulled all the wood off and dragged them out of there pretty much,” he said.
“We were trying to talk to them and they were just stone cold … they [couldn’t] even hear anything we were saying, just looking straight at us.”
He told the publication that one woman he helped had the skin completely ripped off her feet.
Another local resident, Angus Hendry, told the publication that he went inside the house while it was still burning to help rescue people.
“They were in, I hope, surprisingly good shape, given the condition of the house. We just got them out, they looked in quite a bit of shock, had burns and stuff,” he said.
“It was just a lot of rubble … the house is no longer a house, it’s half a house.”
Other nearby houses had been partially destroyed, windows had been blown out and garage doors had been ripped off.
A worker at a nearby hotel told the New Zealand Herald the explosion was so loud it was like a bomb had gone off.
“It was more than an earthquake, you’d think a bomb had gone off,” she said.
“We’ve had housing insulation raining down on our property so something’s obviously had quite a large explosion.”
The city of Christchurch is still on edge just four months after a gunman killed 51 people and injured dozens of others after opening fire on a mosque.
There is no indication that this explosion had any wider security indications.
You need to be a member of Earth Changes and the Pole Shift to add comments!
Join Earth Changes and the Pole Shift