Four dead in explosion so big one victim’s body was thrown 450 feet through air
Police confirmed that all four victims were working at the water recycling tank at the time.
Four people have died in a large explosion at a waste water plant in Bristol.
They were working at Wessex Water’s Bristol recycling centre in Avonmouth this morning when a major incident was declared by emergency services.
The victims included three employees of Wessex Water and one contractor, confirmed police. Their families have been informed.
Another person was also injured but their condition is not said to be life-threatening.
Witnesses reported hearing a ‘loud bang’ but there were no signs of a fire at around 11.20am this morning.
The victims were believed to have been working on top of the waste water tank when it exploded and sent one body flying around 150 metres from the blast.
However, a fire service spokesman was unable to confirm where on the site the bodies were found, adding that he was currently ‘unaware of the position’ of an additional casualty mentioned by police.
Police confirmed there are no ‘ongoing public safety concerns’ and that the incident was not terror-related.
They added they are not speculating on how the explosion happened, but confirmed that the tank contained a solid biomass.
Chief Inspector Mark Runacres, of Avon and Somerset Police, said: ‘The fire service led the rescue operation but sadly, despite the best efforts of all those involved, we can confirm there have been four fatalities.’
‘Specially trained officers have this afternoon made contact with all of the families of those individuals,’ he added.
‘This is a tragic incident and our thoughts go out to them.’
Luke Gazzard, from Avon Fire and Rescue Service, said the incident had been ‘very challenging’ but that crews had been able to attend the scene quickly.
He said: ‘Our initial crews attended within five minutes and in total we had six fire engines, a turntable ladder, urban search and rescue teams and two search and rescue dogs on scene.
‘During the incident we located four casualties who unfortunately were confirmed as deceased.
‘Our thoughts are with the families, friends and colleagues of all those affected in today’s incident. It is a terribly sad incident.’
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