Police were this morning searching the home of the owner of the Polish supermarket destroyed in an explosion on Sunday, after arresting three men on suspicion of the manslaughter of the five people killed in the blast. Officers were seen inside and outside the house of Aram Kurd, 33, a mile from the scene of the blast, hours after they revealed three men in their thirties had been arrested. Police stationed outside the property refused to say what they were looking for at the house, or whether Mr Kurd was one of the men arrested. None of the house's residents were present during the search.
Mr Kurd, who describes himself on social media as a security worker and translator, was working in the shop at the time of the explosion, and later told how he was trapped in the rubble narrowly avoiding serious injury.
The explosion and subsequent fire destroyed the Zabka Polish supermarket and a flat above it killing Mary Ragoobar, 46, her sons Shane, 18, and Sean, 17, Shane's girlfriend Leah Reek, 18, and 22-year-old shop worker, Viktorija Ljevleva.
Leicester Police earlier confirmed they had arrested three men in their thirties, one each in the East Midlands, the North West of England and East Anglia, on suspicion of manslaughter.
Mrs Ragoobar moved into the two-bedroom property in Leicester four years ago along with her husband, Jose Ragoobeer, 58, and the couple's youngest son, Scotty, 15. Mr Ragoobeer was at work at the time of the incident on Sunday night, while Scotty was pulled from the rubble by a passer-by and is being treated in hospital.
All five victims will officially remain 'missing' until formal identifications take place. But police say this process could take some time. Announcing the arrests, officers said there remained no evidence the explosion had any connection with terrorism.
'No further details will be released about these individuals at this stage. We acknowledge that the terrible events of Sunday night in Hinckley Road have attracted significant public, political and media interest,' the police statement said.
Mr Kurd, who only opened the shop in December, told reporters how he cheated detah in the explosion because he had gone to the back of the store to get a crate of beer when the blast happened. His colleague Ms Ljevleva had remained at the till. He described how he heard a 'loud bang' and found himself thrown several feet before being trapped in rubble. After managing to haul himself free, he shouted out for his colleague but could find no trace of her.
Speaking to ITV Central, he said: 'I was shouting Viktorija! Viktorija! Viktorija!
'I don't know how it happened. It was a big noise. I found myself up and then to the floor, for two or three minutes I couldn't feel anything, I was looking up, my eyes were open.
'I managed to pull himself from the rubble and climbed into the neighbouring garden.'
He said at the time he was unsure about what had happened to the residents of the flat above, but described them as 'good people'.
He added: 'I feel sorry for those people who lost their lives. I don't know if they are kids or young. I don't know who's dead.
'Forget about the money, the most important [thing] is life.'
Earlier his friend Farrah Alli Hameed, 30, told how Mr Kurd opened the shop with a second co-owner.
'It's such a tragedy,' he said. 'I came here hoping to help but because of the cordon I can't do much. I'm not sure if it was a gas explosion, maybe something to do with the electric as they had a lot of spirits in there.'
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