By Kiran Bedder-Patel
Following the unexpected house explosion that struck in Hinckley Road on Sunday, the people of Leicester were quick to react on social media to pay tributes to those who helped, got injured and who later died.
However, twitter has also been home to some highly unpleasant tweets.
Controversial former reality TV star and columnist Katie Hopkins tweeted within hours of the explosion but instead of offering sympathy and support to victims, she linked it to Islam and terrorism.
And former British National Party leader Nick Griffin also posted remarks linking the incident with terrorism.
Sunil Dhokia, 25, a salesman from Thurmaston, Leicester, who works in the city centre, said: “They were bang out of order. She didn’t need to say it. There needs to be unity of the city, to mourn for the families that have lost those who were in the explosion.
“To attack an ethnic minority group like that is not right. It’s not ethically right, it’s not morally right.” Watch his full response on the video below.
Hopkins reacted to a tweet from Leicestershire police declaring a major incident, by asking if a Hotpoint fridge was to blame for the explosion, relating it to the cause of the Grenfell Tower fire.
And she tweeted: ‘Gas explosion. Right up there with lone wolf. And ‘from former Yugoslavia. #Leicester’
In a tweet on the night of the incident, which has since been removed, Hopkins tweeted: ‘Brother Faisal needs to practise his squat jogs. Correction, needed to.’
Eljenna Saeed, 20, is a car broker from Braunstone who is a Muslim, who said:
“I am very offended at what she said and she is very quick to jump the gun.”
Five people who are missing after the explosion on Sunday night have been named as probable victims.
Mary Ragoobeer, 46, and her two sons Shane, 18, and Sean, 17, lived in the flat above the supermarket which was destroyed in the explosion.
All three are still missing.
Leah Beth Reek, 18, who is Shane’s girlfriend, is also missing, as is 22-year-old Viktorija Ljevleva who is thought to have been working in the supermarket, called Zabka, at the time of the explosion.
