Factory Explosion, Glasglow
May 11, 2004

Huge Blast at Factory Glasgow

Two people are feared dead and up to 20 trapped in the rubble of a Glasgow factory destoyed in a major explosion. Unconfirmed reports say around sixty people have been injured. The incident happened at Stockline Plastics in Grovepark Street, off Maryhill Road, just after midday. The four-storey building was all but destroyed in the blast with rubble collapsing onto parked cars. A spokeswoman for NHS Greater Glasgow said accident and emergency rooms at the city´s Western Infirmary, Royal Infirmary and Southern General hospitals were prepared to take casualties. A spokesman for the Scottish Ambulance Service confirmed it had three special operations teams and a mobile control unit which specialises in handling major incidents at the scene of the blast, along with 16 ambulance crews.

Explosion like an Earthquake

The scene following a major explosion in Glasgow was compared to an earthquake by firefighters battling to free those trapped beneath the rubble. Only a corner of the four-storey Stockline Plastics factory building remained standing, with the rest an unrecognisable pile of bricks, wood and dust following the incident. Many of those trapped were believed to have been in offices above the factory floor when the building gave way under the force of the explosion.