Witness tells of horror scenes at the site of the Rozelle blast that killed three people

A GARBAGE truck driver has told of chaos in the seconds after a blast ripped through a convenience store in Rozelle, killing three people.

Forensic and NSW Fire and Rescue work at the scene of the explosion in September 2014.

A GARBAGE truck driver has told the NSW Supreme Court of the chaos that descended on Darling St, Rozelle, the night of a fatal blast.

Peter Barker described the scene after the explosion in a convenience store as “like something out of a movie”.

“I saw debris, flames, bricks everywhere,” Mr Barker said.

“People were coming up the street in their pyjamas, half-naked, in their underwear, cuts on their heads, in shock. It was chaotic.”

Mr Barker was giving evidence in the trial of Adeel Khan, who is accused of lighting the fire that took the lives of Chris Noble, 27, and Bianka O’Brien, 31, and her infant son Jude in September 2014.

The family of blast victim Chris Nobel attend court. Picture: AAP/Dan Himbrechts

The anguish of the families of the victims continues as they attend the court proceedings.

Mr Noble’s mother Liz earlier told the Inner West Courier of the pain her family continues to endure.

She said she believed she had delayed properly grieving for her son because she wanted to be strong during the trial, to bear witness for Chris.

When the fire broke out, it is believed Mr Noble was ­unable to escape his bedroom, which had bars on the window and the door had jammed by swelling.

Moments before he died, the jury heard he texted his mother: “I love you.”

A mural of victim Chris Noble on the hoardings that were placed around the blast site.

Last week, the court heard Mr Khan was almost $400,000 in debt and had rent and bills ­overdue when he lit the blaze that killed Mr Noble and Bianka and Jude O’Brien.

Mr Khan, 44, has pleaded not guilty to a string of ­charges, including murder.

Crown prosecutor Mark Tedeschi QC outlined a case which he said would ­establish Mr Khan acted “with reckless indifference to human life”.

Mr Tedeschi said the jury would be played CCTV footage which showed Mr Khan filling up four containers with petrol, while appearing to be trying to hide from view.

The shop closed as normal at 11pm, and it is ­alleged that between that time and 4am, when the fire broke out, “the accused was in his shop setting up an elaborate ­system for destroying his shop by fire”.

Victims Bianka and Jude O’Brien.

A permanent memorial will be installed near the site on the second anniversary of the tragedy in September.

Mr Noble was saving up for an apartment in Balmain or Rozelle when he died in the fatal explosion in the store below the Darling St residence where he lived.

His parents have fulfilled his wish and bought a one-bedroom unit where they stay when they travel from the country.

The trial continues before Justice Elizabeth ­Fullerton.