Woman trapped in rubble of Whalan townhouse identified as neighbours tell of mum’s harrowing reaction
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A woman feared trapped in the rubble of a western Sydney townhouse leveled by a suspected gas explosion has been identified.
Jasmin Mhei was the only person missing after the building in Wallan, about 45 kilometers west of the central business district, exploded on Saturday.
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Five people were treated for minor injuries after the blast, including two women in their 60s and 70s, one of whom was in a wheelchair. A dog was also rescued from the wreckage.
The search for the missing woman continued into Sunday afternoon.
7NEWS understands she was in a room under a large concrete slab at the time of the blast.
Sources say “miracles do happen” but admit it will take one to find her alive.
Neighbors told how the mother of the missing woman reacted when she found out that her daughter had been caught in the blast.
“She burst into tears several times,” neighbor Evelyn said.
“But then she kept saying, ‘My daughter is strong, my daughter is strong, my daughter is strong.’
On Saturday, there were signs of life in the rubble in the form of tapping sounds, but they have since stopped.
Fire & Rescue NSW are searching brick by brick in a targeted area, despite being hampered by the wet weather.
“Crews worked through heavy rain,” NSW Fire and Rescue Service Commissioner Jeremy Futrell told Weekend Sunrise.
“They moved a large amount of debris, explored and searched every little cavity.”
Crews are now preparing to move larger sections of the wreckage to gain additional access, he said.
“We have a person unaccounted for right now and we are making every effort possible to search the remains of the building,” Futrell said.
“You can see from the footage how completely destroyed this property is.
“There are four flats, four blocks in this block that have collapsed – all parts of this block have fallen.
“The teams had to work their way through the different layers of this building to try to fully explore all possible areas.”
Emergency services are yet to establish what caused the blast, which will be the subject of an investigation by NSW Police.
The police were initially called to a report of a gas explosion.
Gas lines were isolated on the property Saturday so crews could safely accelerate their search and use concrete cutters to remove the debris.
The search will continue until Sunday evening and remains a rescue mission.
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