Police have named seven people who are missing following an explosion and fire at a block of flats in Jersey.

They are: Peter Bowler, 72, Raymond (Raymie) Brown, 71, Romeu and Louise De Almeida aged 67 and 64 years, Derek and Sylvia Ellis aged 61 and 73 and Billy Marsden aged 63.

Five people are confirmed to have died following the blast at the three-storey Haut du Mont block in the island’s capital on Saturday.

The cause of the explosion is still under investigation.

The seven now named are among around a dozen people still thought to be missing.

The force added that the identities of the other victims will be released at a later date.

The search for bodies “will take weeks, not days” and will be “meticulous and painstaking”, police said on Sunday, adding that emergency services are no longer looking for survivors.

Asked if those who are missing had died, police chief Robin Smith said: “We’ve now moved into the recovery phase [of the operation]. So inevitably and tragically and sadly that is the case.”

He said while the search of the debris left following the explosion would not be “quick”, it would be both “careful and sensitive”.

Firefighters, specialist rescue teams and dogs have been searching through the wreckage of the residential block, which was destroyed in the blast at 4am on Saturday.

Police have described the scene on Pier Road as one of “utter devastation”. Around 40 people are being housed in alternative accommodation following the blast.

Family liaison officers are currently working with the families of those affected by the blast, and while authorities say they are in touch with all next of kin, victims are yet to be publicly identified.

Something had gone ‘horribly wrong’

Jersey’s fire chief Paul Brown acknowledged that something had gone “horribly wrong” and his service will be “cooperating fully” with investigations into the cause of the blast.

Mr Brown confirmed that the service was called to the building at around 8.30pm on Friday night and had carried out investigations after residents reported smelling gas. The blast took place around seven and a half hours later.

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An urgent safety check of Jersey’s gas network is also being carried out.

Island Energy – which supplies gas to the Channel Islands – said in a statement that engineers will be continuing the tests over the next few days.

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Chief Executive of Island Energy Group Jo Cox said: “Island Energy continues to work alongside the emergency services as they continue their recovery operation. The company will conduct its own investigation into what happened, as well as helping the various official enquiries.

“Our engineers are safety-testing the island’s gas network, and this will be completed in the next few days. No issues have been detected in the survey so far.”

It’s the second tragedy in Jersey in recent days, after a skipper and two crew members were killed last week when their fishing boat collided with a freight vessel.

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