States of Jersey Police has today released the Pier Road scene to Government of Jersey having completed the evidence collection phase of the investigation.

While the evidence collection phase is now complete, the Operation Spire investigation will continue for some time. The next phase will include examination of key pieces of evidence by expert services at the HSE Science and Research Centre in Buxton.

It will also involve examination of CCTV footage, a continuation of interviews with key witnesses, and ongoing liaison with the Law Officer’s Department about potential criminal offences.

To date, the investigation team have carried out more than 900 lines of enquiry, taken more than 400 statements, and collected more than 700 exhibits.

Specially trained police search officers have been collecting evidence from the scene since December as part of the ongoing investigation.

The handover of the site comes a week sooner than planned following good progress made by the search team. 

GoCrisis, who are the disaster victim and personal effects recovery experts, will continue their work at the site until next month.

The team of 30 disaster recovery experts have been working alongside search officers from States of Jersey Police to ensure all personal items are found and returned.

The cordoned section of Pier Road will remain closed until further notice.

Senior Investigating Officer, Alison Fossey, said: “Today marks a significant milestone for the investigation. Police search officers have now left the scene having successfully completed the evidential phase of the investigation, and the site has now been released to Government of Jersey.

“Over the last couple of weeks, teams have made good progress at the scene which has meant we’ve completed our evidence collection ahead of time. I’d like to thank police colleagues and disaster recovery experts who have done a remarkable job to get us to this point.

“Key pieces of evidence from the scene continue to be examined at the HSE Science and Research Centre. Although we continue to keep an open mind about the cause of the tragedy, our working hypothesis is a gas explosion.”