Work to continue at blast site

Emergency services at the scene shortly after Saturday's fatal explosion. Photo / Herald on Sunday

Work will today continue at the site of Saturday's gas explosion in Auckland which claimed the life of a 48-year-old woman.

The cause of the explosion has not yet been established, despite police completing their forensic examination at the scene.

Philomen Gulland, a Canadian mother-of-two, a maintenance planner for Watercare Services, was killed when the water main pipe she entered exploded in the suburb of Onehunga.

Ian Winson, 47, a network engineer for Watercare, was in a "seriously ill but stable" condition in the intensive care ward at Auckland Hospital today, a hospital spokesman said. He lost both his legs in the explosion.

Harry Barnett, 56, who supervises civil maintenance for the company, and Mathew Jamieson, 25, a drain layer, were both in stable conditions.

HEB Construction chief executive Derrick Adams, the company has the contract for connecting the water pipes, said Watercare would today continue cleaning the pipes and putting gas monitoring and ventilation equipment in place.

HEB would continue with the original project once it had been established the site was safe, but there was still lots to be done before this could happen, he said.

Inquiries were continuing at the Onehunga site, but nothing obvious about what could have caused the explosion had been revealed, a police spokeswoman told NZPA yesterday.

"Police have finished their forensic examination, which involved taking photographs and gathering evidence at the scene. But investigations are continuing into the cause of the blast," she said.

Fire Service area commander Murray Binning, officer in charge at the scene, said investigations were continuing to investigate how the methane gas got into the pipe.

"It's a naturally occurring gas, and we are not sure of the source at this stage," he said.

"We still have no idea what started the explosion."

A camera flash in the excavation area, was one possibility, he said.

- NZPA