Rescue hopes end as blast site turns to crime scene
Two bodies, believed to be that of Bianka O'Brien and her 12-month-old baby son Jude, have been pulled from the remains of a shop fire in Sydney, as attentions turn from rescue mission to criminal investigation.
Police are not commenting on whether there are any suspects as they continue to investigate the Sydney blast that killed three people including a baby.
The Rozelle crime scene in the city's inner west remains in place on Saturday and surrounding roads are expected to be blocked for another few days.
Police say only that investigations into the explosion and subsequent inferno that destroyed a convenience store and adjacent units early on Thursday morning are continuing.
Hopes of finding alive a mother and baby in Sydney's building explosion had faded on Friday.
Rescuers had conceded that hopes were fading and on Friday their worst fears appeared to be realised as the bodies, presumed to be of the pair, were discovered.
“Three people have lost their lives in this event, and our thoughts are with their families and friends who are grief-stricken,” Detective Superintendent Chapman said.
Two bodies were stretchered out of the rubble at the site in Rozelle where a shop blast levelled the apartment that the O'Briens lived in.
The body of a man believed to be 30-year-old neighbour, Chris Noble, was found on Thursday.
The three residents were unaccounted for after the convenience store burst into flames, in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Search dogs and cameras continued to scour the charred debris on Friday as firefighters said they will not give up until everybody has been accounted for.
He also said that the mission was reminiscent of the Christchurch earthquakes, and similar search equipment had been used.
Darling Street will be closed for the entire day, as police urged motorists to remain patient.
“I would like to thank the local community here in Rozelle for their patience and understanding. We are working as fast as possible to reopen the closed section of Darling Street," Superintendent Chapman said.
“However, please bear in mind, that this is still a dangerous site for all of the emergency workers at the scene, and we need to work carefully and methodically to ensure the safety of our people.”
Media reports claim that police believe "it is looking more and more like a deliberate act”.
The explosion is being treated as suspicious and is being investigated by police.
"At this stage, it's an arson," Inspector Clive Ainley said on Thursday.
"It's too early to speculate whether it's a homicide."
Police are reviewing CCTV footage of the blaze and investigators are looking into reports of a car fleeing the area after the explosion.
Two of Chris Nobel's flatmates jumped from the first storey of the burning building, while the convenience store owner was found buried under rubble and a commercial fridge.
Ms O'Brien and baby Jude lived in a separate unit above the convenience store.
Shocked friends are holding out hope the 31-year-old hairdresser will be found alive.
"She is an absolutely gorgeous person," one friend said.
"We lost our beautiful boy": Noble family
Chris Noble had been back a week from a trip to South America when a deadly blast and fire engulfed a Sydney apartment in which he was sleeping.
The family of 27-year-old Mr Noble addressed the media in Sydney on Friday afternoon.
"We lost our beautiful boy yesterday," Chris' mother said.
"We are gutted we will remember Chris for his athletic ability, his work ethic and his loyalty and love of his family and friends."
In one of Chris' final Facebook posts he tragically joked "I've always wanted to be famous!"
His aunt told AAP that the tragedy feels too raw.
"It's just really raw for all of us, we're not a big family," his aunt, who did not wish to be named, told AAP.
"He was committed to his family.
"He's a lovable larrikin."
A travel and sports enthusiast, Mr Noble grew up in Canowindra in central western NSW.
He has a sister, aged 24, and an older brother, aged 30.
Chris and his two close mates, Todd Fisher and Corey Cameron, had been sleeping when the blast rocked the convenience store underneath their flat.
They were managed to leap from their first storey unit, but Chris never made it out.
Anthony Carroll, who lived in a neighbouring unit, fled his smoke-filled home with only the clothes on his back.
"I just grabbed what I've got on and got out of there," he said.
"There were people screaming and yelling and people trapped in the place next door so it was pandemonium."
Like authorities, Mr Carroll wondered what started the blaze.
"It was convenience store, what is in a convenience store that causes that much of an explosion?" he said.
It took several hours for firefighters to render the smouldering building site and for specialists to make it safe enough to allow search and rescue teams in.
A firefighter was injured in the process, sustaining a facial injury while searching the debris.
NSW Fire and Rescue Superintendent Paul Johnstone said the whole building had collapsed and the rooms the missing people were in, don't resemble rooms anymore.
"We are still trying to find somebody but it's a dire situation that they find themselves in," he said on Thursday.
