Fire rages after explosions at fuel storage depot

A HUGE fire was raging in southern England last night after a series of explosions ripped through an oil storage depot in what is thought to be the largest incident of its kind in peacetime Europe.

Miraculously, only two people were seriously injured among 43 casualties, after flames shot hundreds of feet into the sky after the blasts at the Buncefield depot, near Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire.

The force of the incident could be heard up to 100 miles away sparking fears of a terrorist attack or a plane crash.

But police said they were treating it as an accident.

The depot - which holds millions of gallons of various fuels - also supplies aviation fuel for Heathrow and Luton airports.

Around 2,000 people living nearby were evacuated, while police advised others to keep windows and doors closed because of the thick plume of smoke rising from the flames, clearly seen by satellite pictures as a thick blob dispersing east, west and southwards.

Asthma sufferers and the elderly may be more susceptible to the effects of the black smoke, doctors said.

One man who was standing 200 yards away from the blast site was being treated in intensive care for injuries to his lungs. A second person is under observation.

Most injuries were from the “secondary” effect of the blasts, such as cuts from glass and grit in eyes.

A quarter of a million litres of foam concentrate was on its way to the site from around the country.

When mixed with water that would generate millions of tonnes of foam - enough to allow firefighters to begin tackling the blaze.

The depot stores oil, petrol and kerosene.

The country’s fifth largest fuel distribution depot, it is operated by Total, part-owned by Texaco and also used by BP and Shell.