Mum’s anguish amid search for missing nurse

The mother of a trainee nurse who remains missing after a massive explosion destroyed a Sydney townhouse has kept watch of the rescue operation which is set to enter its second night on Sunday.

Experts, including those who helped following last year’s Turkey earthquake, said thy had not given up hope, after the blast decimated the two-storey townhouse on Waikanda Crescent in Whalan just before 1pm on Saturday.

The woman’s mother, reportedly a trainee nurse, has watched as rescue crews comb the site for her daughter.

9News reports the younger woman was visiting her mother at the time of the explosion.

Whalan resident, Evelyn Shogunle said the mother was being looked after by her fellow neighbours.

“She kept saying, ‘My daughter’s strong, my daughter’s strong, my daughter’s strong,’ and I just said to her: ‘Just have faith and have strength and at this stage we need to look after you,’” Ms Shogunle told 9News.

NSW Fire and Rescue Commissioner Jeremy Fewtrell said rescuers remained positive of finding the trapped woman alive.

“This is still within the window for someone to survive,” the Commissioner said.

“You might recall in 1997, we had the Thredbo landslide … it was almost a week when Stuart Diver was rescued … hence the effort to really be exploring the building as thoroughly as we can.”

More than 24 hours after the incident, dozens of searchers including technicians from the FRNSW Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) technicians have been rotated through the scene.

They are using search cameras to peer under the rubble and concrete slabs, looking for possible survivors.

Firefighters have also used acoustic monitoring devices in a bid to capture any sounds under the ruins.

Police have run a detection dog over the debris, without any indications of human activity.

The joint agency rescue experts are using jackhammers, chainsaws and other equipment to break up the rubble which is being loaded onto trucks by hand and removed from the scene.

Earlier on Sunday, a FRNSW spokesperson said crews would keep searching until the missing woman was found.

So far five people have been rescued following the blast. While they were hospitalised, they have since been discharged.

The spokesperson described the search process as “methodical”, with crews removing pieces of concrete from the rubble “bit by bit”.

Up to 80 firefighters had worked through the night searching for the missing person, and about 60 remained on the scene.

“There’s a range of voids and spaces under the collapsed area that they’re continuing to try and access,” Commissioner Fewtrell said earlier.

“When we find access to them, we’re putting search cameras in there to check the voids and examine them.

“We’re using specialist listening equipment so that at times, work will stop on the site.

“That equipment can be utilised just to pick up even the faintest of sounds. So we’re really applying every possible effort as the search and rescue efforts continue.”

On Saturday, FRNSW said emergency services had evacuated five people from the property, including a wheelchair-bound woman in her 60s and another woman aged in her 70s.

Fire rescue crews also rescued a small dog from the rubble on Saturday afternoon.

It was unharmed and cared for at the scene.

A large gas leak had initially prevented crews from entering the ruins on Saturday afternoon, but specialist crews began clearing the rubble once the gas mains were isolated.

FRNSW also used a Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) or drone to carry out aerial assessments and searches of the scene.

The cause of the explosion has not been formally determined, FRNSW said in a statement on Saturday.

The process is slow and meticulous in the interest of safety at the site. FRNSW has also been dealing with a number of small spot fires under sections of the rubble.

The five people evacuated from the scene yesterday, including two women rescued by FRNSW, have been released from hospital with minor injuries.

Once the Search and Rescue operation ends, authorities will step up efforts to forensically determine the cause of the incident.