Chemical blast on Tyneside, smoke visible for 20 miles
Explosions and massive fires are just over the river, as a Chemical Firm blazes.
We were in our history class in college when we noticed thick black smoke engulfing the area.
The blaze happened in North Shields, maybe 2 miles from my college. With the winds blowing towards the South, it blocked out what would have been a sunny day.
A half mile exclusion zone has been set up. No casualties reported as yet, but in the immiediate vicinity, in fact in the same street as the Chemical Company, are thousands of homes.
150 firefighters are at the scene, and it is not yet under control. As far away as Durham, 20 miles South, the smoke can be seen.
This isn't the first time. In January, the same company, which employs only a dozen people, had a gas leakage. This incident is much worse: A spokeswoman for the North East Ambulance Service said "There are 40 to 50 different chemicals involved which are highly toxic".
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk...000/1926886.stm
A more interesting college day than usual, but it seems like an anti-climax after our lesson was so dramatically interrupted.
Oh well.
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