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Breaking Major explosion at Didcot power station destroyed building
Breaking Major explosion at Didcot power station destroyed building
One dead, three missing and five in hospital after part of Didcot power station collapses when demolition job goes tragically wrong Witnesses say Oxfordshire plant was felt ‘shuddering’ following blast and collapsed ‘in huge pile of dust’ Six ambulances and two air ambulances sent to scene after what is being described as a ‘major incident’ It’s not believed blast was planned, with demolition of site expected to be completed by end of the year GMB union ‘understands that workers were preparing two boilers for demolition in the coming weeks’. One person is dead, three are missing and five are in hospital following a major explosion at a power station today that caused part of it to collapse. Witnesses said Didcot Power Station in Oxfordshire was felt ‘shuddering’ after the blast, while others described it collapsing ‘in a huge pile of dust’. Six ambulances and two air ambulances have been sent by South Central Ambulance Service, which said the explosion was a ‘major incident’. It is not believed that the blast at about 4pm today was planned, with demolition of the site expected to be completed by the end of the year. A GMB union official said: ‘We understand that workers were preparing two boilers for demolition in the coming weeks. This led to the collapse.’ Rodney Rose, deputy leader of Oxfordshire County Council, said: ‘I have been told there has been one fatality, but the rest is currently unknown. ‘The fire service is there now and we are still trying to find out if this was a demolition.’ Mr Rose told the Oxford Mail: ‘At the moment this is being treated as a collapsed building, not an explosion, but there was a bang.’ Thames Valley Police confirmed its officers are at the scene while a South Central Ambulance Service spokesman said there were several casualties. This was later expanded on by Thames Valley Fire Control Service, which told of one person dead, three missing and five more in hospital. ‘When that had cleared I noticed that half of the old power station, where they used to keep the generators, half of that was missing. ‘There wasn’t any physical feeling, it was only noise. When they took down the cooling towers a couple of years ago it was about the same volume as that. It was quite loud.’
