Ramsgate building demolished after part of it collapsed in Plains of Waterloo
15:27, 20 September 2019
updated: 16:29, 20 September 2019
A building in Ramsgate has been demolished after part of it collapsed late at night.
Emergency services were called to Plains of Waterloo at about 10.15pm on Wednesday after the property partially fell down and caught on fire.
Two people were taken to hospital with injuries.
Police arrested three people in connection. They have been released pending further inquiries.
A full road closure was put in place for safety reasons while crews dealt with the incident.
Now, the site has been knocked down.
A spokesman for Thanet District Council said: "The building has been completely demolished as agreed with a structural engineer and building control that the building was dangerous and would have to be removed down to the ground."
Neighbours say a couple and young child live at the property.
Melanie Slyfield says she was in her house in Bellevue Road when she heard a massive bang at around 10pm and the floor started shaking.
"It sounded like a big firework going off and when we went outside we saw the building had come down," she said.
"Everyone was out in the street on their phones trying to find out what was going on.
"I know there's a little girl living there who's about one and a half and, being a mum myself, I was worried about her so I went round and found the mother outside holding her. She was really shaking.
"Her partner kept going back in and out of the house and in the end we had to tell him to stop because it was so dangerous.
"We were worried people might have still been in there but they all got out.
"There's a massive crack down the back of the property, too. It's extremely dangerous there."
Pete Payne, who runs a hairdressers on the corner of Plains of Waterloo, says people are speculating that it might have been a gas explosion.
"At the moment it's too dangerous to go in there to find out," he said.
The barber says the bang sounded like an explosion.
"The first thing was just making sure everyone was out and moved away from the building," he said.
While at the scene, officers also uncovered a cannabis cultivation in a nearby building.
