Major Gas Leak Sparks Midnight Evacuation in West Sussex
A major gas leak ripped through West Sussex at 12:21am on Wednesday 6 January, triggering a full-scale emergency. The incident has been officially declared a major incident, with dozens of agencies scrambling to contain the danger.
700 Residents Evacuated Amid Cold January Chaos
Some 700 locals were forced from their homes and moved to temporary shelters as emergency crews work frantically to secure the scene. Thankfully, no injuries have been reported.
Multi-Agency Effort to Tackle Gas Leak
Sussex Police are leading the charge alongside West Sussex Fire and Rescue, South East Coast Ambulance Service, West Sussex County Council, Crawley Borough Council, and Southern Gas. All partners are working around the clock to resolve the crisis quickly and safely.
Officials Urge Caution as Investigation Continues
Detective Chief Superintendent Steve Rayland said: “This is an ongoing incident which has caused huge disruption to hundreds of people on a cold January morning, and I’d like to thank everyone for their patience and understanding as we continue to work with our partners to minimise the ongoing disruption.
“We are working hard to ensure this is dealt with as soon as possible to enable everyone to return home, however this may take several hours yet. In the meantime, we are urging everyone to stay away from the area to allow the responding agencies to focus on resolving the incident to allow residents to return home.
“The exact cause of the gas leak is yet to be determined but not believed to be criminal, and we will provide more information as soon as we are able to.”
