Watch: Southsea house wall collapse drama as “screaming” woman recalls shocking moment

Miraculously residents inside the Victoria Road South house - converted into three flats - were unharmed after evacuating the building following the incident around 8pm on Tuesday. A video of the aftermath of the incident shows the destruction caused to the property.

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Residents in the building included a family with a two-year-old child in the bottom flat, a woman in the top apartment who returned home from work to the chaos, and Georgia Brady, 25, and her flatmate Anna, 26, who only moved in a week ago.

The flatmates are now being temporarily rehoused at the nearby Ibis Hotel before going into an apartment on Thursday after contacting their landlord. The building has since been deemed unsafe by the fire service but concerns were flagged months ago, according to Georgia.

Georgia, speaking of the incident, said: “We were sat there eating dinner and suddenly the whole wall collapsed and fell down. The bricks just crumbled off. My flatmate was on her bed as the window and bricks fell down…I screamed out for her because she didn’t see it at first.

“It left a massive hole in the wall. We didn’t know what to do so we called the landlord and he said to “sleep in the front room”. I called my dad and he said to call the fire service and get out. We went downstairs and told the family to get out. The girl who lives above us was out and came home from work to find us all outside.

“Our landlord said he couldn’t do anything until the morning. He didn’t apologise.”

Speaking of concerns over the building, Georgia said: “We’ve been told by the residents the side wall of the house has been blowing and bowing for months with nothing done - despite concerns being raised to the landlord and council. Now it’s just given way.

“When we moved in we saw the wall down the side of the building bursting at the seams but had no idea how serious the issues were.”

Georgia said they have none of their belongings and are currently wearing slippers and pyjamas in Advice Portsmouth. Although they have been put up in the Ibis for two nights and then an apartment from the landlord, Georgia said: “We’ve not had a call from anyone. We’ve been trying to sort things out ourselves with none of our belongings. We’ve not even been able to brush our teeth or our hair because we are not allowed back in the house.”

The video of the aftermath of the incident from the female resident in the bottom flat shows the destruction. In the footage the woman said: “The whole wall fell completely down. It cut out the internet and the whole place is blocked.

“You can’t even pass through. Anyone who wants to use the restroom now will have stuff coming out the wall. It’s not even safe for me to go in there because something could fall on someone’s head.”

A spokesman for Hampshire’s fire service said in an updated statement: “We were called to a terraced property on Victoria Road South in Portsmouth shortly before 8pm on Tuesday night following the partial collapse of an exterior wall.

“Occupants of the affected property and nearby neighbours have been evacuated and are being temporarily rehoused. A crew from Southsea were assisted by a fire servie Urban Search and Rescue officer, as the electric and gas supplies to the building were isolated by the relevant companies.

“The area was cordoned off before we handed the incident over to Emergency Planning. We left the scene at around half eleven last night.”

A Portsmouth City Council spokesperson said: "Members of our Emergency Planning team attended an incident in Victoria Road South last night after residents had been evacuated from two privately-owned properties.

"Residents in one of the properties were found overnight accommodation by the building owner. We supported the residents of the second property to source temporary accommodation, while they attempted to make contact with the landlord.

"Our Building Control team will be attending the site to review the condition of the building and assess whether any further emergency measures need to be considered at this stage."