A sudden lightning strike in England caused a food waste recycling plant in Oxfordshire to erupt into a massive gas explosion, sending a fireball into the night sky.
Witnesses near the blast area reported seeing the fireball after the explosion at the Severn Trent Green Power Plant found in Cassington, just north of Oxford. The company said the lightning strike caused one of the facility's biogas tanks to explode around 7:20 p.m. BST.
Oxfordshire Recycling Plant Explodes
Fortunately, the company noted that the blast injured no one and that staff were already working with emergency services to help secure the site. Officials quickly deployed six fire engines, 40 firefighters, law enforcement personnel, and at least four ambulances to the plant. It is known for processing food waste that is turned into biogas.
In a statement, the South Central Ambulance Service confirmed that paramedics were already at the explosion scene. Additionally, it said that the personnel were on standby to assist the police and the fire service, as per BBC.
A spokesperson for the ambulance service added that there were no reports of any casualties at the time of the statement. Furthermore, Oxfordshire County Council said fire crews were using an aerial appliance and water tank to fight the flames engulfing the recycling plant.
A person who works at Oxford University, 34-year-old Jack Frowde, said he was sitting in his kitchen when the entire room lit up with a brilliant white light. It was then followed by a huge crack that he said sounded like really heavy thunder.
Frowde noted that he immediately looked outside his window and saw as if the night sky was pulsating orange. He added that he ran back to capture the orange glow as it faded after roughly 20 seconds.
Warning of Lightning Strikes
Various witnesses, including householders and motorists, have shared several videos of the sky being lit up on Monday evening following the blast at the recycling plant. One person said that they initially thought it was a fire caused by the lightning storm that passed over the region, according to the Oxford Mail.
The Thames Valley Police also confirmed that it had deployed police officers to the scene, saying they were assisting with the fire at the recycling plant. As fire and rescue operations are ongoing, a spokesman for the service said that officials would not be provided further updates during the evening of the blast.
The explosion came as rain had fallen throughout the region in the evening and was accompanied by lightning strikes. Another witness said that they did not know what happened and what happened but argued that the light they saw was massive.
Oxfordshire was among the dozens of regions in the United Kingdom under a yellow weather warning for thunderstorms. The Met Office said that thunderstorms with frequent lightning have already impacted various parts of the warning area.
Mirror said that officials also warned of an increasing risk of longer-lasting intense downpours, especially later in the evening and further east across the warning area.
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