Sunday, December 11 2005 19:35 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

London: At least 36 people were injured, two of them seriously, when a series of huge blasts ripped through an oil depot near Luton airport, northwest of London today (Dec 11, 2005), filling the sky with orange flames and thick black smoke and shattering windows and doors of nearby houses.

Detectives are treating the incident as an accident and earlier reports that a plane was involved in the blast are unfounded, police said. "The fire is under control but there might still be more explosions," they said.

The first explosion took place at the Buncefield oil depot at Hertfordshire, close to the junction 8 of the motorway 20 kms from Luton Airport, at 0603 GMT (1133 IST). Witnesses said two more explosions followed it at 0626 GMT (1156 IST) and 0627 GMT (1157 IST).

The blasts at the depot, operated by French firm Total and part-owned by American Texaco, could be heard up to 70 km away and flames shot more than 200 feet into the sky.

Hertfordshire police chief constable Frank Whiteley told newspersons that "all indications at this stage are that this was an accident. However, clearly we will keep open mind until we can confirm that for certain." He said the explosions had caused some damage to buildings in the immediate vicinity.

Luton airport, which is used for budget and charter flights to destinations in Britain and abroad, is said to be operating as usual. A spokeswoman said no flights have been disrupted and the smoke was not affecting the flight path.