Explosions rock oil depot north of London

A series of explosions which tore through a fuel depot north of London before dawn Sunday, left 36 injured, four in serious condition, police said.

"At this stage we believe there are around 36 casualties and I would emphasise the vast majority of these are not serious injuries," Hertfordshire Chief Constable Frank Whiteley told a news conference. "We think at the moment about four people are more seriously injured."

Whiteley said he believed the explosion was an accident and that there was no reason to expect fuel shortages to result.

The explosions at Buncefield Oil Terminal, near the town of Hemel Hempstead in the country of Hertfordshire, shattered windows of nearby houses and sent a billowing cloud of smoke and flames high into the sky. 

Mike Carlish, who lives less than 4 km (3 miles) from the Buncefield depot, near the commuter town of Hemel Hempstead, said he had been woken by a "Blinding white flash" that had been powerful enough to knock the plaster off the ceiling in his house a little after 6:00 a.m.

"Smoke is spiraling over 200 feet into the air. It is not under control," He told Reuters by telephone.

Carlish said people lived within two miles of the depot, closer than him.

He said police had closed the nearby M1 motorway in both directions.

Another witness, identified only as Heather, said she heard a loud blast near the commuter town of Hemel Hempstead and could see sheets of flame soaring into the sky.

Scene of blasts north of London (Photo: AP)  

"There are lots of houses damaged."

Police were not immediately available for comment but another eye witness also said he thought there had been an explosion at the fuel depot.

Sky News reported that the scene of the first explosion was the Bunsfield oil terminal in Leverstock Green, near Hemel Hempstead.

'The whole house shook'

Windows were blown out near to the scene and others reported hearing a series of blasts from several miles away.

The local ambulance service could not be contacted but a spokeswoman for London's service said they were on standby to help their colleagues if required.

"The whole sky is black," Kelly, who lives a mile from the depot, told BBC Television. "The whole house shook."

"The flames are massive," she said.

Petrol and fuel oils for a large part of south-east England are traded through the Buncefield Oil Terminal near the Hemel Hempstead M1 motorway junction.

An underground pipeline brings the oil directly from tankers unloading at Canvey Island.