A seven-year-old boy who was killed in house explosion in Newcastle has been named locally as Archie York.
The “large-scale incident” took place in Violet Close, Newcastle at around 12.45am last night.
Neighbours have revealed that the young boy was a “lovely lad” and his family are “in bits” following the tragic incident.
Archie died at the scene, while six others were taken to hospital.
It comes after a second body was found earlier today in the wreckage of the devastating explosion and fire.
The body, understood to be of a man in his 30s, was found in the debris by emergency crews, with police making the news public this afternoon.
Emergency services and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) are carrying out an investigation into the cause of the blast.
Paying tribute online, Archie’s aunty Abbie York wrote: “Archie’s life was so tragically snatched from him in the early hours of the morning in the explosion in Benwell.
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“My family are all so truly devastated and heartbroken beyond words by this and we would respect privacy at this time.”
She added: “He deserves to be known. Archie was my nephew and the most beautiful, funny, and caring little boy and his name deserves to be shouted from the rooftops!
“We all love you so much little man, you didn’t deserve this.”
Abbie said her family had moved to the Benwell property just after Archie was born and the primary school pupil had been learning how to swim and enjoyed playing the violin, according to the BBC.
She added that Archie’s parents and his two-month old brother were being cared for by relatives.
Police confirmed on Thursday that just one remained in hospital: another man, also in his 30s, described as being in a “critical but stable” condition.
As the force’s investigation progresses, officers said they had no reports of any further missing people who may have links to the incident.
