- Police also waiting to question Andrew Partington whose home was at centre of explosion
- It is claimed Mr Partington had threatened suicide after his partner Tanya Williams walked out the night before
- He remains under guard in a hospital ward after suffering 80 per cent burns in the blast
- Neighbour tells of hearing Miss Williams having a furious argument in the street with a man who was heard to shout: 'I'll blow the f****** house up'
- Senior police officer compared scene to 1995 IRA bombing of Manchester city centre
- Police say child's mother only escaped death because she was hanging out washing
- First pictures and tributes to two-year-old Jamie Heaton who was killed in devastating explosion released
By James Tozer, Nazia Parveen and Tom Gardner
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Jamie Heaton was killed in the lounge of his family home as he sat watching TV when the explosion occurred
The 32-year-old man arrested last night over the devastating blast that ripped through a row of terrace houses killing a toddler is believed to be a gas engineer.
It is thought the unnamed man may have examined a boiler in one of the affected houses in the days before the disaster.
Today he was still being questioned by police on suspicion of manslaughter in connection with the explosion as the first images of tragic two-year-old Jamie Heaton were released.
The little boy was watching television as his mother Michelle hung washing in their garden when the incident happened.
Detectives also want to speak to Andrew Partington, 27, who suffered 80 per cent burns when the blast happened at his home.
Police this morning confirmed he was under sedation in hospital and will be questioned when he regains consciousness.
The landlord of the rented property has revealed it had a new, safety-certified boiler, and checks by gas engineers have yet to identify any faults in the area.
But the family claim the boiler developed a fault last week and say it may have caused a gas leak which could have ignited when Mr Partington lit a cigarette.
Residents had reported smelling gas 40 minutes before the explosion. As engineers from the National Grid were arriving the fatal blast erupted.
Sam Gibson, 25, of Oak Road, which adjoins Buckley Street, said: 'There was a really strong smell of gas all morning and it was getting progressively worse as time went on but obviously you don't expect anything like this to happen.
'I was in my living room and heard this horrendous explosion and you could feel the earth shake. I live around 100 yards away yet it still felt like it had happened in my own house.'
Police said that this was one of a number of lines of inquiry they were pursuing.
It has also been claimed that Partington had threatened to commit suicide after his partner, Tanya Williams, also 27, walked out on him the night before, taking her five children - who were said to be wearing just their pyjamas - with her.
Neither Mr Partington nor Miss Williams are related to the arrested man, according to police.
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Andrew Partington (left) is believed to have had an argument with his partner Tanya Williams (pictured right with Partington) the night before the blast
A neighbour has told how Miss Williams had a furious argument in the street during which he said he heard a man shout 'I'll blow the f****** house up'.
The resident, who wanted to remain anonymous, said: 'Tanya had a massive argument. The man was drunk and shouted to her, "if you f****** leave, I'll blow the f****** house up". She left with the kids.'
Yesterday the 27-year-old’s family claimed she had fled after suffering months of drink-fuelled violence but insisted nothing Mr Partington had said suggested he had set off the blast deliberately.
Jamie’s parents Michelle and Kenny paid tribute to their ‘precious’ toddler, saying he had been ‘full of laughter’.
The couple also have two other children who were not at home when the blast happened.
Mr Partington had moved to the house next door to the Heatons in Shaw, near Oldham, with Miss Williams around five months earlier.
Neighbours told of a screaming argument the night before Tuesday morning’s explosion, during which the out-of-work joiner allegedly threatened to commit suicide if she left him.
According to Miss Williams’s family, she had sneaked out along with her five children earlier in the evening, later sending him a text message to say what she had done.
‘It was an abusive relationship and Tanya has tried to leave before, but on previous occasions Andy took hold of one of the kids and wouldn’t let her go,’ a relative said.
‘Andy didn’t make any threats or say he was going to do anything because he didn’t know she was leaving â€" he was still outside drinking with his mates.’
This picture shows the scale of the damage to neighbouring houses as well as the scale of the damage to the three houses in the initial blast
Fire and police investigators survey the scene of the explosion where four houses once stood
The relative said Miss Williams had told police she was not aware of any threats that would suggest he could have caused the blast deliberately.
Senior police stressed today that the arrest was only one line of inquiry.
Steve Heywood, Assistant Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, said: 'A 32-year-old man from the Oldham area was arrested in London and conveyed to Manchester today. He will be subject to a robust interview process today.
'What I would like to stress though is he is just one single line of inquiry we are pursuing. There are a number of other lines of inquiry which we are pursuing.
'I would not want you to read into it that this is actually the only line of inquiry we are pursuing.
'At this stage I would not like to speculate any further around who he is or his occupation because that is going to be a significant part of that particular line of inquiry.
'That is only one line of inquiry. We are treating it as a homicide inquiry, a suspicious death inquiry.'
Mr Heywood said police have yet to establish the exact cause of the explosion, and their approach was to 'assume nothing, believe no first account and check everything'.
Mr Partington is currently under police guard at a burns unit, but officers yesterday said they had ‘significant questions’ to put to him. They have also interviewed Miss Williams over exactly what happened the night before.
Neighbours described Miss Williams as having a strong personality and said she was a doting mother to her five children aged between eight and six weeks. She and Mr Partington had been together for five years.
The Heaton family issued a statement describing Jamie as ‘a happy loving little boy â€" precious son to Michelle and Kenny and loving little brother to Jodie and Jack’.
It added: ‘Jamie’s life was full of laughter. He touched the hearts of all who knew him.’
Friends and neighbours laid flowers and toys as tributes to the toddler.
Touching tributes: Teddy bears and a Bob The Builder doll have been left among bunches of flowers at the scene
Tearful: Family friends of tragic Jamie Heaton, two, who was killed in a suspected gas blast, stand alongside floral tributes close to the scene in Buckley Street in the Shaw area of Oldham, Greater Manchester
Outpouring: More tributes and heartfelt messages have been laid for Jamie Heaton, the toddler who died in Tuesday's gas explosion in Shaw, Oldham which flattened three houses on Buckley Street
The massive explosion flattened number 11 Buckley Street, where Jamie lived, and number 9, where Mr Partington lived. The two houses are separated by an alleyway.
Surrounding properties were also devastated and structural engineers will have to check each house before residents can return. Steve Heywood, Assistant Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, compared the scene to something like the IRA's bombing of Manchester.
'This looks like there has been a bomb. The devastation is absolutely tremendous,' he said. 'Our thoughts go out to those families that have been displaced.'
Mr Heywood praised the way people and local businesses had come forward to help those hit by the disaster.
'The community support has been absolutely fantastic,' he said.
Shocked neighbours told how rubble and shattered glass had been strewn across several streets, with many fearing a bomb had gone off. Horrifying aerial pictures showed how at least four substantial terraced houses had been blown to bits by the ferocity of the explosion.
Some residents questioned the time gas workers took to arrive at the house, although the target response time for such suspected leaks is an hour.
The explosion triggered a huge rescue effort including dog teams trained to search for earthquake survivors amid fears that residents were trapped under rubble.
Bishop of Middleton Mark Davies's entry to the book of condolence
Grief: Bishop of Middleton Mark Davies, signs a book of condolence at St James' church in Shaw area, close to the scene of a suspected gas blast in Buckley Street
Grandmother Audrey Cleaver, 68, was in bed at No 5 Buckley Street, two doors down from the scene of the blast when half her house was destroyed in the explosion. She said: 'I was lying in bed and then there was just this unbelievable bang - I didn’t know what on earth was going on.
'It was a total miracle that I managed to escape. Half my house has collapsed, but luckily I was in the more stable part and managed to walk away. The house is totally devastated, there is hardly anything left and I have still got to see what I can recover of my possessions, but right now none of this seems important.'
Lauren Roberts, 20, also of Oak Street, was driving along her road. She said: 'It was the most terrifying thing that has happened to me. I just heard this massive bang and then suddenly there was things flying everywhere. It was like being in the middle of an earthquake.
'My car got thrown forward and all the windows smashed. All I could do was slam on the brakes and try and find some cover. Tiles were coming in through the windscreen and it was just a few seconds of complete chaos. I just feel so lucky that I wasn’t more badly hurt and when I look at my car it seems unbelievable that I walked away with no serious injuries.'
Assistant Chief Constable Steve Heyward and Fire Service area manage Sean Booth speak at today's press conference
Around 150 homes were evacuated following the blast, with many families forced to spend the night in emergency accommodation including a school.
Oldham Council is making arrangements to enable dozens of residents evacuated from surrounding streets access to their homes.
A statement from the council said: ‘Oldham Council is making arrangements to enable some residents affected by the Shaw explosion to access their properties.
‘Today we are urging residents from Gordon Street, Oak Street, Edmund Street and Chancery Lane to contact us as soon as possible.
‘If you have not already done so, you should get in touch with Oldham Council either by going to the Rest Centre at Crompton House school or calling us direct on 0161 770 7770.
‘If you live in any of these streets, we urgently need your contact details so that we can speak to you directly about access to your property.
‘These visits will enable residents to retrieve any items that th ey need to take away as phased access gets under way.'
VIDEO: Oldham mourns for 2-year-old Jamie Heaton...Â
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