Three in hospital after huge explosion causes fire at factory

Three men have been taken to hospital after a huge explosion caused a fire at an industrial plant.

Six fire engines and around 40 firefighters were called to a fire this morning at an industrial unit on Church Manorway in Erith, south east London.

There were a number of reports of a ‘huge explosion’ in the area.

Witness James Wall wrote on Twitter: ‘I work opposite – explosion was huge – our building shook, we ran out to see this.’

When the London Fire Brigade arrived part of an oil seed processing plant was found to be alight.

Around 80 people had been evacuated and three men suffering from burns were treated by London Ambulance Service crews and taken to hospital.

Smoke can be seen for many miles across Kent and south east London and fire crews are expected to remain on the scene for a number of hours.

The 999 control centre received 22 calls alerting them to the blaze.

The London Fire Brigade said it was called at 9.13am and the fire was under control by 12.08pm.

Fire crews from Erith, Wennington, Bexley, Plumstead and East Greenwich fire stations were at the scene.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].

For more stories like this, check our news page.