Two injured after ‘explosion’ at Teeside steelworks

Condition of victims unknown, say police

Jon Sharman
Thursday 19 September 2019 17:36 BST
Comments
A view of the former British Steel Lackenby Works in Redcar
A view of the former British Steel Lackenby Works in Redcar

Two people have been injured after a reported explosion at a steelworks.

Police officers, firefighters and paramedics were called to the Lackenby site in Redcar, near Middlesborough, on Thursday afternoon.

The office of the Tees Valley mayor said there was “an ongoing incident at the South Bank coke ovens, which is part of the SSI steelworks site”.

North East Ambulance Service said it sent “hazardous area response teams” after being alerted to the apparent blast at 2.10pm.

Cleveland Police said it had been called to reports of a fire “at the former SSI site in South Bank”.

Shortly before 6pm it said it had erected a cordon 150m away from the site. There were no homes within the boundary, it said.

Two people have been hurt, but the force said it could not confirm how badly they were injured.

“The Health and Safety Executive has been informed,” it said in a statement.

A witness told Gazette Live he saw a “massive” fireball.

He added: “I can only describe it as something you would see in the Gulf war. It went higher than the big tower.

“The ground shook and I heard a muffled sound. A bit like an aeroplane flying over.”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in