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Two people have been seriously injured and 32 more are in hospital after a huge explosion flattened several buildings including a Chinese restaurant.

The blast left people buried under rubble and a high street decimated in New Ferry on the Wirral.

The explosion, thought to be a suspected gas blast, happened at around 9.15pm as diners were enjoying a meal at Lan's House Chinese restaurant.

Complete Works dance studio, opposite the restaurant, was also left "obliterated'.

Eyewitnesses described the carnage at the scene as like a "war zone".

North West Ambulance Service said two people were in a serious condition in hospital, while 30 others were being treated for minor injuries.

Fifteen people were taken to hospital by paramedics, while a further 15 took themselves to hospital, the ambulance service said.

The two seriously injured people are being cared for at Aintree Hospital.

Houses have been evacuated of around 20 people in the surrounding area and moved to a nearby church, a spokeswoman added.

Locals rushed from to a nearby pub for towels and first aid supplies.

(Image: Google Streetview) (Image: Google Streetview)

A woman believed to be linked to the dance school, Lucy Lee, posted on Facebook just after 10pm, saying it was a "suspected gas leak from the Chinese" restaurant.

"Lost for words.." she wrote.

"I began Complete Works when it very first opened and to see it build how it did and go from 20 of us to hundreds of them was incredible.

"Vic & Kim put their heart and souls into that dance school and within minutes it has gone.

"Hoping everyone is safe."

She later added: "Just heard there are serious casualties. Hope they will be ok. X"

One resident in New Ferry said he saw people “buried under the rubble” after the explosion.

Lew Hopkins said: “Some people were under the rubble. It was horrific.

”Our whole house shook and we just saw a big cloud of smoke.”

Mr Hopkins, who lives near the scene of the explosion, told the ECHO people were being evacuated from their houses on the street of the explosion, due to fear of further explosions.

He said: “They evacuated people on the street because they were scared it could happen again.

“They were all forced to evacuate - it was horrible to see.”

A worker at a nearby pub said one of the windows blew through.

One man in the pub reportedly had a minor cut to his head.

One person had a serious head bandage.

There has been a huge police and ambulance response, with at least ten ambulances at the scene.

Some injured people were being walked to ambulances now to go to Countess of Chester Hospital.

At least 30 firemen were being briefed as helicopters circled above.

Fire crews are looking through the rubble under a search light.

Paramedics at the scene have been seen unloading oxygen tanks.

One witness said: "There were shards of glass. They cut people. It's all pedestrian and they ran outside. Some of them covered in blood.

"It was like a war zone. I couldn't believe it."

The area is in lockdown to cars as people at the scene report a smell of gas or smoke.

Local Capital FM radio station tweeted that a building had been flattened with other buildings around it suffering damage".

The “huge bang” left some houses shaking and was heard on Merseyside.

Hundreds of people from across Merseyside have taken to social media after hearing the noise, with some even claiming their houses “shook”, the Liverpool Echo reports.

The noise has been reported on both sides of the Mersey, in places including Birkenhead, Liverpool city centre and Sefton Park.

A resident in Bebington said: “I was watching casualty and our patio door which is joined to the living room shook. I thought someone was trying to get into the house.

“It violently shook. It felt like there was an earthquake in the back garden. People are out on the streets. I’ve seen it on Facebook in Rock Ferry, Bebington, New Brighton.

“Everyone thought there was a petrol station had gone off.”

The cause of the noise is not yet known but several Wirral residents have also reported hearing sirens.

Merseyside Fire and Rescue service confirmed they had been “inundated” with reports and were in attendance near Boundary Road in Port Sunlight, Wirral.