Town bridge reopens to motorists

Friday 8th January 2010, 12:40PM GMT.

Traffic returns to the Welsh Bridge in Shrewsbury

Shrewsbury’s Welsh Bridge partially reopened to motorists today for the first time since the town was rocked by an explosion, while three of those caught up in the blast remained seriously ill in hospital.

The bridge was opened to traffic travelling towards the town centre and was expected to be reopened to traffic travelling out of the town tomorrow.

It was reopened to pedestrians yesterday, four days after the blast which caused a building to collapse at the corner of Bridge Street and Smithfield Road.

Health and Safety Executive officials are still investigating the cause of the explosion, which is believed to be a gas leak.

Nineteen-year-old friends Sam Devine-Turner and Sarah Pearse are both in a critical but stable condition at Birmingham’s Selly Oak Hospital. Miss Pearse’s boyfriend Scott Godbold, 23, and their friend Annie Davies, 19, who are also at Selly Oak, were today described as “comfortable”.

Kiley McDonnell, who was starring in Peter Pan at Theatre Severn, is seriously ill but stable at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, where he is being treated for spinal injuries caused by the blast.

Bridge Street, Barker Street, Mardol and Victoria Quay remain closed to traffic.

View more: Shrewsbury Explosion news.