Death toll rises to 10 after Jersey apartment blast

A woman injured in an explosion at a block of flats in Jersey earlier this month died on Christmas Day, taking the death toll to 10, Report informs referring to The Guardian.

Kathleen (Kathy) McGinness, 73, who lived at Haut du Mont adjacent to the building to the building that collapsed, died at Jersey general hospital.

The blast, which happened shortly after 4 am on December 10, destroyed the building in St Helier. The other people who died were Peter Bowler, 72; Raymond (Raymie) Brown, 71; Romeu and Louise De Almeida, 67 and 64; Derek and Sylvia Ellis, 61 and 73; Ken and Jane Ralph, 72 and 71; and 63-year-old Billy Marsden.

States of Jersey police confirmed postmortems had been carried out and the people named as missing had been identified as those who died. Inquests into nine of the deaths were expected to open on December 30 and would be adjourned while the police investigation continues.

Jersey’s gas system has been put under investigation and the possibility of a criminal investigation has not been ruled out.