Man killed in gas cylinder blast

An investigation is being carried out into the explosion

One man has died and another was severely injured after two gas cylinders exploded at a scrapyard.

The 64-year-old local man died after the blast at the Nuffield Road industrial estate, Poole, Dorset.

A 53-year old man is in a critical but stable condition and is being moved to a specialist burns unit at East Grinstead for treatment.

More than 30 firefighters were called to the Reliance scrapyard after the explosion at 0900 BST on Monday.

'Very scary'

Eyewitness Darren White said: "All of sudden there was a massive explosion.

"We ducked, instinct made us duck.

"I looked up in the air and there was this huge chunk of flaming metal.

"It must have flown 60ft in the air, above the electric pylons and came down 15-20ft away from us with an almighty bang.

"Very scary, very scary."

A total of 10 factory and business premises were evacuated following the fire and were not re-opened until Monday afternoon.

Police are now working alongside fire investigators and the Health and Safety Executive to establish the cause of the fire and explosion.

A Dorset police spokesman said: "Sadly, the 64-year-old man from Poole died from serious burns in Poole Hospital this afternoon.

"The 50-year-old man also taken to Poole Hospital's accident and emergency department is currently in a critical condition."