A mother-of-two said she has been left “terrified” after walking past a restaurant seconds before a gas explosion destroyed the shopfront and sent shards of glass flying across the pavement.
Ewelina Dunkley, 40, said she narrowly missed getting caught in the blast when she passed The Bilash Indian takeaway on Southend Road in Grays on Saturday afternoon.
Police and fire crews attended the scene after being called to reports of an explosion shortly before 2.25pm.
Ms Dunkley told the PA news agency she saw a “massive flame of fire” inside the takeaway before the glass shopfront was shattered by the force of the explosion.
“It was traumatising,” she said.
“The glass was on the opposite side of the road, that’s how forceful it was.
“I think the glass would damage your skin… If it flew to the other side of the road, imagine someone standing five yards away.
“I don’t even want to think about what would have happened if someone had been there.”
The events manager said she had been taking her dog to the vet next to the takeaway shop and had considered bringing her son with her.
“If he would have come and walked behind me that would have been him there, injured or God knows what, dead maybe,” she said.
“I was shaking and I banged the door to the vet saying ‘please just let me in’. I’m still shaken.”
Ms Dunkley said the explosion lasted just a few seconds before the scene went quiet again, with shop owners and local residents gathering shortly after to take pictures of the wreckage.
PA was unable to contact the restaurant, but Ms Dunkley said it appeared to be closed at the time of the explosion.
Essex Police said there were not thought to be any injuries or structural damage.
The force said in a post on Twitter: “We were called to an address in Southend Road shortly before 2.25pm.
“No one is believed to have been injured and there is not thought to be any structural damage.
“The road is likely to remain shut for several hours.”