Irish man killed in Perth shopping centre explosion named

An Irish man who died following an explosion in Perth, Western Australia yesterday has been named as Alan Cummins.

As well as Mr Cummins (30), another man died and several others were injured in the blast in a Woolworths supermarket in the Galleria shopping mall.

Another Irishman, Jonathon McDonagh, who works as a machine operator in Perth, was the first to arrive on the scene.

“I came driving in and saw three people come running out,” he said.

“I had the radio on and didn’t hear the bang, but I saw a puff of smoke. One fella was dead. I saw another moving around, obviously not OK.

“I knew straight away that one man was dead,” said he said.

Mr McDonagh said bystanders filled any containers they could find with water from a nearby fire hydrant to try to put out the flames.

One man died at the scene, while the other died later in hospital.

Police Inspector Rob Harrison said the dead and injured people had been working in an area near an electrical transformer.

“We believe that they possibly working within that transformer area of the shopping centre,” he said.

A spokesperson for the shopping centre management described the incident as ‘’tragic’’.

“We are focussed on doing all that we can to assist emergency services and as such we are unable at this stage to comment any further.

“Our thoughts are very much with those involved and their families at this time.”

The Department of Foreign Affairs is providing consular assistance to Mr Cummins’s family.