SPRINGVALE BLAST

Details are still emerging following an explosion and fire in suburban Melbourne.

A young victim of the Springvale blast

Details are still emerging following an explosion and fire in suburban Melbourne.

Six people suffered serious burns and another 21 are also injured following the blast at a Commonwealth Bank branch in Springvale:

Springvale Rd has been cut off to traffic as police and other emergency services converge on the area …

Witness Malen Vanh was in the Springvale Centre two doors up when an elderly woman ran in yelling.

“She ran out of the bank and said a man has burned themselves in the bank,” he said.

The incident is believed to have been as a result of someone attempting self-harm.

Tradesman Ash Atkin-Fone was working nearby when he heard a “big blast”:

"This kid comes running out, all burnt, screaming his head off, skin coming off, blood everywhere," he said.

Immediately, he sprinted across the road to the neighbouring Optus store.

He grabbed a fire extinguisher and ran into the "pitch black" bank, dousing the flames and putting out the blaze before firefighters even arrived.

Fast-thinking Ash Atkin-Fone

"There was four people getting blasted (with glass) along the street," Mr Atkin-Fone said.

Asked why he put himself in danger and ran into a burning building he simply said "I had to".

Good man.

UPDATE. The Age reports:

Ernie Gonzalez heard witness say a man set himself on fire at the entrance of the bank before running inside and squirting gasoline on the carpet.

"He's setting the carpet on fire as he's running towards the back of the bank," he said.

Mr Gonzalez said the bank tellers had to run through the flames to get out of the building.

"I could see flames in the entrance and I could see people running out covered in charcoal - they were black," he said.

A man who was spoken to by police after the explosion

Andy Raughton from Ambulance Victoria said the scene was 'quite chaotic' and that paramedics had to treat patients at the scene with a mix of burns and respiratory injuries before transporting them to hospital. .

He said six people were in a critical condition with life-threatening injuries.

UPDATE II. Here we go:

Two people were fighting for their lives last night and dozens of wounded recovering after an asylum-seeker who arrived by boat three years ago allegedly ignited a container of petrol inside a Melbourne bank.

More of these people, please.