A resident of a north-west London home destroyed in a mystery explosion which left one man dead, contacted police to complain about the behaviour of a group of girls outside the property hours before the blast.
Three terraced houses were destroyed and a man, named locally as 26-year-old Emad Qureshi, was killed when the explosion tore through Stanley Road, South Harrow, on Wednesday night.
Murder squad detectives believe the blast may have been sparked d
eliberately.
Police were originally called after reports of a gas explosion, but engineers could find no fault with the mains supply.
A spokesman said: "The cause of the explosion has yet to be determined. However, it is being treated as suspicious at this early stage."
He said that police had received a call from one of the residents of the flattened houses complaining about the behaviour of a group of girls who had gathered outside the property.
He said: "The caller reported that a group of females were causing a disturbance outside the property but the caller confirmed that the group had moved away and that she no longer required police assistance."
Police were working to establish the cause of the massive explosion.
London Fire Brigade recovered the body from the scene on Thursday night. They said the dead man would not be formally identified until his next of kin had been informed.
A post-mortem examination on the body is due to be carried out in the next two days.
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