WITH huge flames raging at the riverside and charred piles of rubble pouring from the destroyed block, dramatic images of the Gibbs Crescent blast are etched in witnesses’ memories.
The Valentine’s Day tragedy killed 48-year-old Guido Schuette after fuel in his flat ignited, creating a huge explosion that shook buildings nearby - including the Oxford Mail’s own offices.
THE TRAGEDY AS IT UNFOLDED - CLICK HERE
Several flats were wrecked and others made uninhabitable due to their unsafe proximity, displacing 11 residents who were assigned housing elsewhere.
Two years later and the physical scars of that day are still apparent on site, despite a major clean-up operation from the fire service and authorities.
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The end of the building destroyed in the explosion has been clad with a white temporary ‘wall’, clearly visible from the Oxford towpath behind Osney Mead Industrial Estate.
The area outside the block has been surrounded by a small fence and filled in with bark chippings.
Drag the sliders below to see the site shortly after the blast, compared to the site as it is this week.
All photo sliders created using Flourish
Pictures by Alexander Hammonds/ Ed Nix
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