Rescuers have stepped up a desperate search for a trainee nurse feared trapped under a pile of rubble after a house was destroyed by an explosion.
The huge explosion occurred on the second level of the property on Waikanda Crescent in Whalan, in Sydney’s west, about 1pm on Saturday.
Jasmin Mhey, 30, was identified on Sunday night as the missing woman believed to be trapped in the rubble of the decimated building.
Ms Mhey had been at the property to visit her mother, Mercy, who escaped momentarily and returned to find her building completely destroyed.
As the search continues into a second cold night, teams are sifting through the rubble of the Housing Authority building still clinging to the hope of finding the young nurse alive, although experts have said she “needs a miracle”.
The horrible explosion was heard several streets away and shattered the windows of neighboring buildings. Five other people were treated at the scene by paramedics.
Jasmin Mhey (pictured) was identified as the young nurse missing since Saturday when she went to visit her mother and the Housing Department building exploded.
Rescuers have intensified their desperate search for Mhey, who is feared trapped under rubble after the explosion in Whalan, western Sydney, which decimated the housing complex (pictured).
The front of the house on Waikanda Crescent (pictured) is the only area that was not destroyed following the explosion just before 1pm on Saturday.
On Sunday, police announced that the search area is a crime scene and officers closed the street.
Mhey’s distraught mother, who has kept a vigil across the street to closely monitor search efforts, told neighbors she had reported the smell of gas in the building and on the street in recent months.
Neighbors described the moment she returned to the house.
“She (the mother) was on her knees screaming for her daughter,” a neighbor said.
“She wouldn’t leave, she sat here in the rain and cold all night saying she wouldn’t leave until her daughter came out.”
Since then, there has been an increased police presence in the area, with dozens of officers arriving at the scene around 7.30am.
Fire and Rescue NSW said a rescue operation continues in the area while fire, police and ambulance crews remain at the scene.
NSW Fire and Rescue Superintendent Ross Genders said rescuers have so far been unable to locate the woman, who was understood to be on the second floor of the house, when the explosion occurred.
“We have a generalized area where we are looking for them and that is based on the design of the building,” Superintendent Géneros said..
“So we know it’s the back of the building where most of the debris has collapsed.”
Rescuers are using thermal imaging and specialized microphones to assist in the search.
NSW Search and Rescue Commissioner Jeremy Fewtrell said despite the “total destruction” of the property, a person trapped during the damage could still survive.
“It’s still within a survival window and so the goal of the effort is to really explore the building as thoroughly as we can,” he said.
Commissioner Fewtrell said no further “banging” noises have been heard since the initial sounds were detected Saturday afternoon.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Fire and Rescue NSW and NSW Police for further comment.
Rescuers (pictured) are still searching for the woman, after firefighters heard “bangs” and noises coming from beneath the rubble of the collapsed building, which they believe is a sign the woman is alive.
Police announced that the search area is now a crime scene and officers have closed the street (pictured, police tape near the search area)
The explosion hit the second level of the house causing the house to collapse (in the photo)
Early indications suggest that the explosion may have been the result of a gas leak, however, the actual cause has yet to be officially determined.
On Saturday, emergency services responded to a call about an explosion that had “destroyed” one level of the unit.
Windows were smashed during the explosion and witnesses were heard screaming.
Paramedics treated five people who suffered injuries after the explosion.
Two women were rescued from the rubble of the collapsed structure: a woman in her 60s and another woman in her 70s who uses a wheelchair.
The two women who were taken to hospital in St George and Hawkesbury but have since been discharged.
Another 12 people from surrounding houses were evacuated, as nearby houses and apartment buildings were damaged.
Ambulance NSW told Daily Mail Australia that five people were taken to hospital after the explosion: three were transported to Mount Druitt Hospital and another three to Hawkesbury District Health Service. Their current conditions are unknown.
Another person was treated at the scene.
Daily Mail has contacted the Western Sydney Local Health District for further comment.
Police closed access to the street and an increased police presence has been observed in the area since 7.30am on Sunday (pictured, police officers at the scene on Saturday)
Emergency services (pictured) braved heavy rain and cold and worked through the night in a bid to find the woman trapped beneath the rubble.
Emergency services braved heavy rain and cold and worked through the night in a bid to find the woman trapped beneath the rubble.
Search and rescue efforts were hampered Saturday afternoon due to bad weather.
The building has been reduced to a pile of rubble and the sound of the explosion was heard several kilometers away.
Fire and Rescue, ambulance, HAZMAT, police, gas and power personnel were able to enter the building Saturday afternoon only after gas was shut off in the area, which took several hours.
FRNSW teams trained in urban search and rescue operations using concrete cutters to clear debris recovered a small dog from the units who is being treated at the scene.
The house suffered ‘significant damage’, and a neighboring home was also impacted, reported the Sydney Morning Herald.
Nearby properties, including apartment buildings (pictured), also suffered damage after the single-family home collapsed.
Fire and Rescue (pictured), ambulances, HAZMAT, police, gas and power personnel were able to enter the building on Saturday afternoon only after gas was turned off to the area.
Fire and Rescue NSW urged the public to stay away from the building.
“The gas supply was cut off at the scene of an explosion… allowing Fire and Rescue New South Wales (FRNSW) crews to enter and search the area,” they said.
“There is no fire at this time, but the scene remains volatile and unstable.”
Whalan resident Kathleen Morris said the sound of the explosion was massive.
“I heard a big bang and the whole house shook, everyone came out of their houses wondering what had happened,” he said.
A resident told mail that the explosion “shaken my house four streets away.”
Residents said the explosion was “massive”, while others living in suburbs several kilometers away also felt the shaking (pictured is the rubble of the collapsed house in Whalan).
One person on social media said they heard the explosion from their yard in Lethbridge Park, which is 2.5 kilometers away, while another said they heard it 9.4 kilometers away, in St Clair.
Terry Fisher, who was working around the corner at the time, told the publication that he ran towards the unit block when he heard a loud bang.
“I was working on the corner and I heard a very loud explosion,” he said. “She shook the house she was in, two streets away.”
“It was definitely a shock to see half the house destroyed. I knew something big had happened as I had never felt such a big explosion.”
