EuroWire, BRISTOL: Two people were killed and three others, including a child, suffered minor injuries after an explosion tore through a home in the Frenchay area of Bristol on Sunday, prompting Avon and Somerset Police to declare a major incident and seal off part of Sterncourt Road. Police said the blast is being treated as suspicious, but not as a terrorism-related incident, and said the dead were a woman and a man whose families have been informed and are being supported.
Police said officers were called at about 6:17 a.m. to a domestic-related incident at the residential address and were on their way when an explosion occurred inside the property shortly after 6:30 a.m. Three injured people, identified by police as a man, a woman and a child, were taken to hospital for treatment for minor injuries. Authorities have not publicly identified the two people who died, and no cause for the explosion had been announced in the latest official update.
A wide cordon was put in place around the scene as emergency crews began enquiries and specialist searches. Residents living inside the restricted area were evacuated to a temporary rest centre, while bomb disposal specialists from the British Army’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit were brought in as a precaution. Police also said officers were carrying out enquiries at a separate property in Speedwell linked to the man who died, adding that no evacuations were required there and no one else was being sought.
Investigation and evacuation
Avon and Somerset Police said the investigation remained complex and sensitive as officers worked through evidence from the blast site and surrounding area. The force said neighborhood policing teams would continue patrols to reassure local residents and offer advice to anyone concerned by the incident. Officials also said the response had been coordinated with emergency services and Bristol City Council under established major incident procedures, reflecting the scale of the operation in the hours after the explosion.
In a later update issued on Sunday night, police said extensive searches at the Sterncourt Road property had been completed and the area had been declared safe. The cordon was significantly reduced, allowing almost all residents to return to their homes after spending much of the day away. Bristol City Council was helping a small number of people whose homes remained within a much smaller section still sealed off so investigators could continue their work at the scene.
Area declared safe
The latest official account left several key details unresolved, including the cause of the explosion and the identities of the two people who died. Police have said only that the incident followed a domestic-related call and that the explosion is being treated as suspicious. Authorities have also stressed that the case is not being handled as terrorism, a point repeated as officers sought to limit speculation while inquiries continued in Frenchay and at the linked address in Speedwell.
By late Sunday, the focus had shifted from emergency response to a narrower forensic investigation, with most residents allowed back and the immediate danger lifted. Avon and Somerset Police said public safety remained the priority and that further updates would be provided as new confirmed information became available. For now, the blast has left two people dead, three others hurt and a neighborhood in Bristol trying to absorb the impact of a deadly explosion now at the center of an active police investigation.