Bulletin | Two killed in ‘suspicious’ explosion at house in Bristol
Two adults have died following an explosion at a house in Sterncourt Road, Bristol, on Sunday morning.
Here’s everything you need to know about the explosion in five bullet points:
Alex Croft3 May 2026 14:45
In pictures: Bomb squad and emergency services at the scene 
(PA)
(PA)
(PA)
(PA)
Maryam Zakir-Hussain3 May 2026 14:02
View of Sterncourt Road where explosion took place
Avon and Somerset Police declared a major incident after the explosion at an address in Sterncourt Road at around 6.30am (Google)
Maryam Zakir-Hussain3 May 2026 12:59
The College of Policing defines a major incident as “an event or situation with a range of serious consequences which requires special arrangements to be implemented by one or more emergency responder agencies”.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain3 May 2026 12:43
Avon and Somerset Police statement
Avon and Somerset Police have asked the public to avoid the area of the explosion at this time.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain3 May 2026 12:24
Resident ‘jumped out of bed’ when he heard the explosion
Bradley Shepherd, who lives on Bradeston Grove, said he “jumped out of bed” when he heard a “large explosion noise” at the time of the explosion.
Police and armed police were arriving to the property “within minutes”, he told the BBC.
He added that the entire neighbourhood were told to evacuate their properties within 15-20 minutes and ushered to the local Harvester.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain3 May 2026 12:20
Resident heard ‘loud bang’ at time of explosion
One resident, who asked not to be named, told BristolLive he heard a loud “bang” at about 6.30am and went outside to see what was happening.
He said armed police shouted for him to “get inside, get inside!”
He and his partner were shortly told to evacuate their home and move to the Harvester pub until further notice.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain3 May 2026 12:12
Police carry out enquiries at property in Speedwell
Officers are also carrying out enquiries at a property in Speedwell which police say is linked to the Sterncourt Road explosion.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain3 May 2026 12:03
Residents within police cordon are being ‘evacuated’
A cordon has been put in place as a precaution to help keep the public safe, Avon and Somerset Police have said.
“People living within that cordon are being evacuated to a temporary rest centre”, they said, adding: “There is not believed to be any significant damage to other properties.”
Maryam Zakir-Hussain3 May 2026 11:57
Police not treating explosion as ‘suspected terrorist incident’
A representative of the police said: “Given the recent change to the UK threat level, we would like to reassure the public from the outset we are not treating this as a suspected terrorist incident.
“We ask people not to speculate around the circumstances and continue to encourage the public to avoid the area while emergency services respond to this incident.”
Maryam Zakir-Hussain3 May 2026 11:52