An injured couple were taken to hospital after an explosion in their basement yesterday morning.

The 51-year-old woman and 47-year-old man were hurt during the accident in their house neat Lower Ferry on Harbour Road, Paget, just before 7.30 a.m.

Lieutenant Dana Lovell, from Bermuda Fire Service, said the force of the explosion blasted pieces of an exterior wall onto nearby Valley Lane. The cause is still being investigated.

"We received a call at 7.29 this morning and we responded with one of our fire engines from the Hamilton Fire Station," he told The Royal Gazette. "The fire was in fact out on arrival. The explosion was brief but the fire that ensued was snuffed out very quickly. There was no fire that we had to put out.

"We are hearing all sorts of reasons as to what might have happened. I have heard some theories but the investigators would have to let me know exactly what was found."

Lt. Lovell could provide no details of the injuries sustained by the couple but said there was heat and smoke damage in the basement of the home, which is a former tourist guesthouse, in addition to the blasted exterior wall.