Explosions at one of Britain's largest oil depots jolted an area north of London early yesterday, hurling balls of fire skyward, shattering windows and blanketing nearby houses with smoke.
The blasts appeared to be accidental. Thirty-six people were injured, four seriously, police said.
Explosions were expected to continue for several hours at the depot, which stores 16 million liters of fuel, police said.
PHOTO: AP
"It's big and it's going to burn for some time," said Frank Whiteley, chief constable of Hertfordshire Police. "But it is under control."
There was nothing to indicate the blasts were acts of terrorism, police said, although the al-Qaeda terror network and other terrorist groups have threatened to target fuel deposits. Britain has been on edge since the July 7 London transit bombings, which killed 56 people including four suicide bombers, and a failed attack on July 21.
Some residents reported hearing an aircraft flying low overhead shortly before the first explosion at around 6am but police said there was no evidence of a plane crash. Nearby Luton Airport remained open and flights were operating normally.
"All indications at this stage are that this was an accident," Whiteley said. "However, clearly we will keep an open mind, as with all investigations, until we can confirm that for certain."
Firefighters planned to use foam to stop the blaze spreading across the 450m by 850m depot and adjacent industrial park. The 20 blazing tanks were being allowed to burn themselves out while about 100 firefighters and 100 police officers stood watch at the site.
"It's a controlled burn," said Jane Vine, a spokeswoman for the local county council.
Emergency workers wearing masks cordoned off the area around the Buncefield Oil Terminal, near the town of Hemel Hempstead. Authorities evacuated residents as the plume moved slowly eastward.
Whiteley cautioned that the cloud contained irritants that could cause coughs and nausea. People in the path of the smoke should stay indoors, he said.
Residents in Hemel Hempstead reported a loud boom and some felt their houses shake. The blast was so large it was felt throughout a large part of southeast England including London, 40km away.
"Around 6am, as we were sleeping, there was a mighty explosion -- a thunderclap that woke me up," said Neil Spencer, 42, who lives about 1 1/2km from the terminal. "It was fireball after fireball -- truly amazing."
The area around the fuel depot was being evacuated. Police said many roads and highways had been closed.
Japan has deployed long-range missiles in a southwestern region near China, the Japanese defense minister said yesterday, at a time when ties with Beijing are at their lowest in recent years. The missiles were installed in Kumamoto in the southern region of Kyushu, as Japan is attempting to shore up its military capacity as China steps up naval activity in the East China Sea. “Standoff defense capabilities enable us to counter the threat of enemy forces attempting to invade our country ... while ensuring the safety of our personnel,” Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. “This is an extremely important initiative for
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) today accepted an invitation from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to lead a delegation to China next month, saying she hopes to promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations and bring stability to the Taiwan Strait. “I am grateful and happy to accept this invitation,” Cheng said in a statement from the KMT chairperson’s office. Cheng said she hopes both sides can work together to promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations, enhance exchange and cooperation, bring stability to the Taiwan Strait and improve people’s livelihoods. At today's news conference, Cheng said any efforts to
MORE POPULAR: Taiwan Pass sales increased by 59 percent during the first quarter compared with the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said The Tourism Administration yesterday said that it has streamlined the Taiwan Pass, with two versions available for purchase beginning today. The tourism agency has made the pass available to international tourists since 2024, allowing them to access the high-speed rail, Taiwan Railway Corp services, four MRT systems and four Taiwan Tourist Shuttles. Previously, five types of Taiwan Pass were available, but some tourists have said that the offerings were too complicated. The agency said only two types of Taiwan Pass would be available, starting from a three-day pass with the high-speed rail and a three-day pass with Taiwan Railway Corp. The former costs NT$2,800
The nation’s fastest supercomputer, Nano 4 (晶創26), is scheduled to be launched in the third quarter, and would be used to train large language models in finance and national defense sectors, the National Center for High-Performance Computing (NCHC) said. The supercomputer, which would operate at about 86.05 petaflops, is being tested at a new cloud computing center in the Southern Taiwan Science Park in Tainan. The exterior of the server cabinet features chip circuitry patterns overlaid with a map of Taiwan, highlighting the nation’s central position in the semiconductor industry. The center also houses Taiwania 2, Taiwania 3, Forerunner 1 and
RSS