'Two dead, dozens injured' in Glasgow factory blast

Two people were feared dead and dozens injured after a massive explosion at a plastics factory today.

Up to 20 people were thought to be trapped when the building collapsed just after midday in Glasgow.

The blast happened at Stockline Plastics in Grovepark Street, off Maryhill Road in the west end of the city.

The area was sealed off and emergency services were at the scene of the blast.

A spokesman for Strathclyde Police said: "At midday today, an explosion occurred at Stockline Plastics and caused considerable damage to the property.

“It is reported that a number of people are trapped within the premises but it is unknown at this stage how many.

“Strathclyde Police is in the process of setting up a casualty bureau and further details will follow.”

Firefighters and police officers could be seen searching through the rubble of the building while passers-by helped treat survivors.

The worst of the casualties were taken away on stretchers by paramedics.

Dozens of workers and onlookers gathered in the street outside the factory gates.

The building was all but destroyed in the blast with rubble collapsing on to parked cars.

One woman, who was shopping in a nearby store when she heard a massive explosion, said: “I heard a loud explosion and ran out of the store.

“I could hear people screaming and there were people running about covered in blood.

“There were people buried in the rubble. They were screaming for help – it was horrific.”

A spokeswoman for NHS Greater Glasgow said accident and emergency rooms at the city’s Western Infirmary, Royal Infirmary and Southern General hospitals were preparing to take any casualties.