BREAKING : Huge explosions rock UK oil depot
Three large explosions have taken place at an oil depot near Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire. Police say there are casualties. They are at the scene, said a spokesman.The first blast happened at 0603 GMT, at the Buncefield oil depot, close to the junction 8 of the M1 motorway 10 miles from Luton Airport. Residents up to 30 miles from the scene reported hearing a "loud boom". One eye witness told BBC News: "There are lots of houses damaged."
Witnesses said another two explosions followed the first at 0626 GMT and 0627 GMT. The M1 near the scene has been closed in both directions.
Eye witness Sam Matton, who lives half-a-mile from the depot told BBC News: "The sky is sort of orange. The flames have got to be 60ft up in the air.
"I was in bed, I was actually having a bad dream and I thought the world had ended. The loft hatch in my house has actually fallen out, my neighbour's window has actually broken from the impact. There was a first major explosion and about three explosions after that. "
Dave Franklin told BBC News: "We woke up at 0555 GMT. There was a massive loud bang which broke windows above us and to the right. The whole sky just turned orange and black. "Several other neighbours said they did see a plane go into the depot."
Duncan Milligan, of Hemel Hempstead, said he was awoken by the explosion as his house "shook .There was a loud boom and the house shook violently. I am about three miles from where the explosion took place but I can see flames high in the sky and smoke billowing everywhere. There is clearly a building on fire near the motorway and police and emergency services are everywhere."
Source : Here . Eye witness account Here (video) LIVE VIDEO FEED (windows media) Note this link may change also please note that none of these links are mine they will all connect you to the BBC source
It is early to be looking at what caused the explosions . but the mention by witnesses of them watching a 'plane' fly into the complex is a little concerning. Things are very sketchy and subject to change from my words above so please click the Live feed above for the constantly updating story
posted by _H_ at 7:16 am
6 Comments:
It is being reported that the depot can hold upto 60 million barrels of oil . ( of course that does not mean there was that much there) but thats just to give a reference to the size of the explosion
Live video feed is now working so i will stop updating this post and those that want more information can watch it for themselves
Just to let you know, I heard it here first... Good work, _H_.
Thanks , for once i think i was the first (or if not very close to the first) to post it
There is still much confusion , not helped by the fact the TV presenters keep using the word "attack" then correcting themselves
It now seems unlikely that this is a terrorist attack but the frequency of 'possible' freudian slips is keeping me watching with a steady rate of curiosity
Any merit to the plane quote?
Was it far from your home?
About 40 miles from me Marco , I am in north east london
the smoke is blowing this way and during daylight hours can clearly be seen above my house
here is a map
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4520430.stm#buncefield
as for the plane issue , i dont think so , but yesterdays attitude was very cleary
"it was an accident"
and today that has moved somewhat to the truth which is they dont know anything yet
the official line is now
Police officers - including anti-terrorist detectives - are investigating the disaster, but say there is "nothing to suggest" it was anything other than an accident.
but that may change again
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