By JADE RUSSELL 

Tribune Staff Reporter 

jrussell@tribunemedia.net

A POWERFUL gas explosion tore through a home in Blue Hill South yesterday, injuring eight people, including three children and three adults who were left in critical condition.

The explosion occurred during a gas refill, sparking a loud noise that was heard miles away.

The home, located across from Commonwealth Bank, was reduced to rubble. When The Tribune visited the scene, debris — including glass, shingles, and broken windows — littered the area.

The light brown, double-unit apartment was left a skeletal shell with a collapsed roof. A Discount Propane truck, which had been refilling the gas, remained parked outside.

Videos of the aftermath circulated on social media, with some describing the explosion as resembling an earthquake. Bystanders gathered as firefighters worked to secure the area.

Superintendent Demeris Armbrister, Chief Fire Officer of the Royal Bahamas Police Force Fire Services, said after the department received reports of an explosion around 4pm, two fire units arrived at the scene within seven minutes and observed extensive damage to the home and surround- ing buildings.

He confirmed that the injured included the home’s residents, the gas truck driver, and another worker.

However, the Public Hospitals Authority (PHA) later reported that eight people, not nine, were transported to the hospital — five adults and three children.

According to the PHA, three adults were in critical condition, while two were stable. One child was in a guarded condition, and the other two were stable.

The explosion also destroyed a takeout food business operated by the home’s residents. A neighbouring preschool and another residence sustained damage.

Alexandria Arthur, a nearby resident, recounted the terrifying moment. She said she was lying down when, all of a sudden, she heard a loud crash and glass flying everywhere.

Ms Arthur said she immediately grabbed her four-year-old son and evacuated her home. “When I walked outside, I couldn’t really see anything, because debris and everything was in the road. It was just a lot. I’m still a bit shaken up from it,” she said.

Ms Arthur’s family home suffered significant damage, including a collapsed back roof and broken doors and windows. Her car was also severely damaged, with debris crushing its roof and shattering the windshield. Despite the loss, she expressed gratitude for her family’s safety, saying material things can be replaced.

She said the sound of the explosion is one she “could never forget”.

“Even when I ran outside, I thought it was an accident,” she said. “I thought it was a plane crash. I just didn’t know. I didn’t know what it was because we couldn’t see.”