Family-of-three has narrow escape as new house collapses overnight after 'explosion'
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA: The next-door neighbors of a house that collapsed around a sleeping family have recounted the terror they went through after hearing the sound of an explosion. At 4.30 am on April 7, firetrucks were rushed to the property in Sydney's west after reports that a two-story house had collapsed.
When a woman, her spouse, and their little child woke up from their slumber, they discovered that their bedroom ceiling was starting to collapse. The family ran out onto the street as the home started to shake.
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'I was scared to get into my house this morning'
As per Yahoo News, the neighbors awoke in the middle of the night to the sound of what they described as a "explosion" or "car crash." The neighboring property's renter, Christopher Benjamin, claimed he was scared to learn that the same people who built the collapsed home also built his. “I was scared to get into my house this morning,” he said. “I’m nervous … but the owner told us it is a different design.”
Photos obtained from the scene show the house's roof sloping downward and visible damage to the walls. Four cars were buried beneath the debris and the weight of the majority of the second level of the house as the building totally caved in. The ceiling had loose electrical cables sticking out of it.
'It is pretty unusual; it is a very new home'
Before the house collapsed, the couple, who had been renting the property, was able to save their three pets. According to a NSW Fire Service spokeswoman speaking to NCA NewsWire, a rescue truck that specializes in structural collapse was dispatched to the location.
A fence separating the house from a neighbor's land has been built. The residents won't be able to get back inside the house. After the incident, the distraught family have found alternate housing. According to Adam Dewberry of NSW Fire and Rescue, there wasn't much they could do because of the devastation. “It is pretty unusual; it is a very new home. So what’s occurred here will have to be investigated by the regulators and the other authorities and no doubt the owner and insurance,” he said.