Police reported that 43 people were hurt in what appeared so far to have been an accident at the Buncefield depot near the town of Hemel Hempstead, around 25 miles (40 kilometres) northwest of London.

Many people in the area had initially feared it might have been a terrorist attack.

"It's like it's doomsday," witness Richard Ayres told British media just after the first blasts occurred before dawn around 6:00 a.m. (0600 GMT), vibrating as far away as the outskirts of London.

The explosions tore parts of walls off buildings in an industrial park, smashed windows and dented doors of homes, ripped tiles off house roofs, burned trees and at least half a dozen cars over a wide area, an AFP reporter said.

Fires and explosions continued hours later, producing thick black smoke that drifted southeastward, leaving dark streaks over the skyline of London, home to around seven million people.

The head of the local fire service, Roy Wilsher, said it would be well into Monday before the fire would be extinguished.

"I would expect the operation to last throughout the night and well into tomorrow," said Wilsher, Hertfordshire's chief fire officer.

He said firefighters were concentrating on putting out the smaller fires before attacking the core.

Police added that dozens of residents were evacuated, as Wilsher told reporters it might have been the largest oil depot explosion in peacetime Europe.

However an environmental expert questioned by Sky News television said the smoke posed no immediate danger to the public, as it was being pushed high into the sky by the ferocity of the fire, although he said it could become more dangerous as the fire was finally going out.

"It would mix with air and be greatly diluted before any of it came back down to the ground," ASK consultants analyst Ivan Vince said, adding: "When the fire is dying, the smoke is less buoyant and so can cause a local hazard."

Hertfordshire Police's Chief Constable Frank Whiteley promised a full probe into the blasts' oil depot, the fifth largest fuel distribution center in Britain.

"All indications at this stage are that this was an accident. However, clearly we will keep an open mind until we can confirm that for certain," Whiteley told a press conference.

Jittery from deadly bombings in the British capital in July, residents and workers in the rural area worried at first that the explosions might have been caused by a terrorist attack, or a plane crash linked to nearby Luton Airport.

Luton, a major air hub for London mainly used by charter and low cost flights, is around 10 miles (six kilometres) away. However, police dismissed initial rumors that a plane was involved.

Britain's deputy prime minister John Prescott was headed late Sunday for the blast site and police headquarters for a briefing, his office said.

Whiteley said 43 people were hurt, most with minor injuries. However, a hospital official said one person's condition was serious, but not critical, as a result of lung damage from the impact of the blast.

The police chief said it was "miraculous" there had been no mass casualties, adding that many people might have died if the apparent accident had occurred on a busy weekday.

Dave Franklin, who lives about a kilometre (half a mile) from the depot, told BBC television he was woken up by "an absolutely massive loud bang".

Witnesses said the first ball of orange fire rose an estimated 200 to 300 feet (60 to 90 metres) into the sky.

The depot, which distributes aviation fuel to airports in the London area, is run by the British arm of French oil company Total and Texaco, part of US oil giant Chevron Texaco.

Whiteley and oil industry officials urged motorists to stop rushing to gasoline stations to fill up -- warning that they could cause an artificial shortage -- after insisting that Britain had enough supplies elsewhere to fill the gap.

A section of the major M1 motorway nearby, which links London to the north of England, was also closed, and Whiteley said disruptions could continue into Monday.

Source: Agence France-Presse

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