Bristol explosion site declared safe as police continue suspicious incident inquiry

Residents evacuated from Sterncourt Road in Frenchay were told they could go home after police declared the blast site safe, but the inquiry into what happened remained open. Two adults died in the explosion at the Bristol address, three other people, including a child, were taken to hospital with minor injuries, and Avon and Somerset Police said the incident was still being treated as suspicious.

Officers first received reports of a "domestic-related incident" at 6.17am on Sunday 3 May 2026, before the explosion was reported at about 6.30am. Police declared a major incident as they sealed off the residential street northeast of the city centre, then moved people inside the cordon to a temporary rest centre while specialist searches were carried out.

The British Army’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit was brought in as a precaution, and police said there was not believed to be any significant damage to other properties. That assessment underpinned the decision to let residents return home, a key step in reassuring families after a deadly blast that had left the neighbourhood under emergency restrictions.

Supt Matt Ebbs said the scene had been made safe while officers continued their enquiries, including work at a property in Speedwell linked to the incident. Avon and Somerset Police said they were not looking for anyone else in connection with the explosion, and stressed that the case was not being treated as a suspected terrorist incident.

Bristol City Council was supporting evacuated residents while they were displaced, and police said the families of the two people who died had been updated. The all-clear for the cordoned-off area marked a turning point in the response, but not the end of it. Investigators still face the task of establishing exactly how a residential address in Frenchay became the centre of a fatal and suspicious blast, and whether the warning signs were visible before the explosion ripped through the property.