Major blast at oil refinery

Flames and smoke were visible for miles

There has been a major explosion at an oil refinery on Humberside.

Emergency services are treating the blast at Conoco's Humber refinery near Grimsby as a major incident.

Two people were hurt in the blast at the 480-acre site at Killingholme, north Lincolnshire.

Conoco said all its 199 staff had been accounted for, however staff at the Diana, Princess of Wales hospital, in Grimsby, have been put on standby.

Fifteen fire engines tackled the blaze, while ambulances and police also attended the incident which started around 1420BST and prompted hundreds of calls to emergency services.

I felt the house shake, heard an explosion, looked out the window to see smoke billowing

Allan Huxtable-Goy

One worker at the plant was treated for cuts and bruises in the onsite medical centre.

Lincolnshire Ambulance Service said the second was a nearby resident whose door was blown off its hinges by the force of the blast.

Neither is thought to have been badly injured.

Humberside Fire Service said the incident involved a large amount of liquid petroleum gas (LPG) and petroleum.

The blast occurred in the Saturate Gas Plant and the fire was confined to that area of the site although windows of nearby offices were damaged.

The affected area of the plant is used to separate gasolene, propane and butane but the cause of the blast is unknown.

The refinery is not in a built-up area

A spokesman for the brigade said firefighters were working with Conoco's own staff to set up unmanned miniature water cannon and depressurise the stricken plant.

Police set up roadblocks around the site but have not evacuated residents, who are currently being advised to stay indoors.

Resident Allan Huxtable-Goy told BBC News Online that the blast rocked his house, more than four miles away from the refinery.

He said: "I felt the house shake, heard an explosion, looked out the window to see smoke billowing.

"Within minutes it was about cloud ceiling level, about 30,000ft and I could see flames from here at least 200ft up.

The explosion was described as a "major incident"

"The fire was very intense."

Ros Chapman, a farmer in North Killingholme, around half a mile from the scene of the blast, said: "My husband thought the boiler had gone up in the house. He thought he saw an air blast that went past the window.

"We could see flames coming out towards the tip of the big chimney and black smoke. It was absolutely horrendous."

BBC Radio Humberside reporter Helen Philpott said the plant is not in a built-up area, although there are villages nearby.

The oil refinery had a very good safety record, she added.