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Four dead after explosion at Avonmouth water plant in Bristol, UK
Four people were killed and one person injured after being trapped when an explosion at a wastewater treatment plant in Avonmouth situated in Bristol, UK, occurred on Thursday, 3 December 2020, collapsing the silo. The explosion could be heard more than a mile away. It is believed the five people were all working on top of or near a silo that contained biosolids, solid matter recovered in sewage treatment processes and turned into organic soil conditioner. A rescue operation involving urban search and rescue teams, tracker dogs and helicopters was launched following the explosion at the Wessex Water site in Avonmouth. Police refused to speculate on the cause of the explosion but Avon Fire and Rescue Service said it believed the silo also contained lime, which can be used in the stabilisation process of waste treatment. Ch Insp Mark Runacres, of Avon and Somerset Police, said that three employees of Wessex Water and one contractor had died. The fifth person’s injuries were not life-threatening. He said, “Emergency services were called at approximately 11h20am to reports of a large explosion involving one of the chemical tanks at the site off Kings Weston Lane. Fire fighters from Avonmouth, Southmead, Yate Patchway, Kingswood and Temple responded and a rescue operation was led by the fire service, involving five appliances and two turntable crews. Sadly, despite the best efforts of all those involved, we can confirm there have been four fatalities.” Luke Gazzard, the incident commander for Avon Fire and Rescue Service, said fire fighters were on the scene within five minutes of the explosion. He described it as a “very challenging incident”. Gazzard said there had been no fire, only the powerful explosion.
“Specially trained officers have this afternoon made contact with each of the families of those individuals and informed them of the sad news. A thorough investigation will be carried out into what happened today, involving a number of agencies and the Health and Safety Executive in due course and we will not be speculating on the cause of the explosion while such work is being undertaken.” Avon and Somerset Police confirmed on Thursday evening that everyone had been accounted for and reassured people living nearby that there was not believed to be any further danger to the public. They said they did not believe the incident was terror-related and agencies including the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) would be involved in the investigation. Sources: UK NIP, Euro News, The Guardian |
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