Two men were arrested on suspicion of metal theft after a late-night explosion destroyed an unoccupied house on Southfield Lane in Bradford, police said.
Emergency services were called to the property at about 10:10 p.m. on Saturday after reports of an explosion. Police, fire and ambulance crews found the house significantly damaged and two neighbouring homes with varying degrees of damage. A man, a woman and a boy were taken to hospital with minor injuries and later discharged, West Yorkshire Police said.
A 28-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of metal theft and was being treated for non-life-threatening injuries, police said. A 27-year-old man was found near the scene with serious but non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to hospital for treatment. Officers said enquiries into the incident were ongoing.
Superintendent Lucy Leadbeater of Bradford District Police said investigators were looking into reports that metal was being removed from the empty property shortly before the explosion, but added that the cause of the blast remained under investigation. "A number of enquiries remain ongoing into this serious incident today," she said.
Photographs released from the scene show extensive structural collapse, with rubble strewn across the pavement and road, and internal rooms left exposed. Emergency services established a cordon while forensic and fire investigators examined the site to establish the sequence of events and identify any hazards.
Local fire crews carried out precautionary checks on the two neighbouring properties for structural safety and potential gas risks, authorities said. Road closures were put in place while debris was cleared and inspections continued.
Metal theft has in some cases been linked to dangerous disturbance of utilities or structural elements, prompting police to treat reports of theft from unoccupied properties as potentially serious. West Yorkshire Police asked anyone with information or footage of the incident to come forward to assist enquiries.
The force did not provide further details about the condition of the two men arrested or whether any charges had been filed. Investigations by specialist officers, including scene examination and witness interviews, were continuing into Sunday.