A man and a woman have been seriously injured in an explosion at a house in Portsmouth.

South Central Ambulance Service said it responded to reports of an explosion at a property on Nelson Avenue before 2pm.

An air ambulance and two ambulance crews and four ambulance officers were part of rescue operations along with more than 30 firefighters, police officers, power companies and local authorities.

Firefighters remain at the scene after tackling a fire in the property, Hampshire & Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service said.

“The ambulance teams have been assessing and treating two patients one male, one female, both adults, who are in a serious condition,” a statement from the ambulance service said.

“Both patients have been treated at the scene by all our crews and taken by ambulance accompanied by the ambulance crew and air ambulance crew, to University Hospital Southampton.

“Our ambulance crews have left scene and our Hazardous Area Response Team will remain on scene.”

COVID-19: Mother warns coronavirus ‘can happen to anybody’ after teenage daughter dies on day she was to get vaccine

Newly-hatched pterosaurs may have been able to fly and could have been more agile than parents

Cardiff City and Portsmouth football clubs dealing with allegations of discriminatory behaviour

Fire crews from Cosham, Portchester, Southsea, Havant and Emsworth were called to deal with a blaze on the first floor and roof space of the terraced property this afternoon.

The cause of the fire will be investigated in due course.

Hampshire Police said that road closures were in place and residents are urged to avoid the area.

Paige Emery, who lives nearby, said the firefighters took around 20 minutes to put out the blaze.

She told Portsmouth News: “I heard a proper loud bang it was so loud and powerful it shook my whole house.”

Related posts:

Watch: Friday’s newspaper front pages Army to shrink to its smallest size since the 1700s under sweeping defence plans UK could face water shortages if action is not taken to conserve supplies Hillsborough statements were altered to ‘mask police failings’, court told Parkrun delays restart of 5k events as venues reluctant to return More rain and wind forecast on first Friday of relaxed restrictions in England Ex-BBC executive who was part of internal inquiry into Diana interview quits Ofcom board Current COVID vaccines unlikely to protect against new variants in future, SAGE warns Radio host Lisa Shaw died due to rare complications of COVID vaccine, coroner rules Police called after anti-vaxxers send school staff violent threats UK reports 35,623 new COVID cases and 180 deaths – with best day for first jabs in weeks Nurses essentially working for free to try keep services running, survey shows