A man was killed when a car exploded in a Jewish area of north Manchester .

Residents on Castle Hill Road in Prestwich rushed out into the street when they heard a blast at around 3pm on Thursday.

Eyewitness Simon Loofe, 62, who called the emergency services, told Manchester Evening News: “We heard an explosion and ran out the house. The car was on fire so I called the police while my son ran closer.

“There was a woman screaming: ‘There’s someone in there, there’s someone in there’.

“Then there was a second explosion with flames flying everywhere and my son couldn’t get close to the car because it was too hot. There were sparks flying all over the place.”

Three fire crews attended the incident but the victim who was inside the Volvo estate was pronounced dead at the scene. Reports suggest the vehicle may have hit the garden wall of one of the houses on the street either before or while it was on fire.

The victim is believed to have been Yossi Horn, a member of the local Orthodox community in his 60s.

Fire station commander Peter Lamb said: "When we got here around 3.15 the car was engulfed in flames.

"We can confirm there was a fatality.

"We were called out to reports of a car on fire and reports of an explosion with a person inside the car.

"We have arrived and unfortunately the whole car has been engulfed in a ball of flames.

"The crews have dealt with it very very quickly and out the fire out but unfortunately I can confirm that there has been a fatal incident."

A police and fire investigation has concluded that there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death.