Four workers killed in Glasgow factory blast

Key points

• Four killed in Glasgow factory blast

• Search goes on for survivors

• Disaster believed to have been caused by oven explosion

Key quote

"I was trying to help pull people from the rubble... All my colleagues were lying on the ground with cuts and bruises to their heads and broken arms. The whole lot just came down on top of them." - David Andrews, factory employee

Story in full RESCUERS worked into the night searching for trapped workers in the ruins of a Glasgow factory which was destroyed yesterday in a massive explosion that killed at least four people.

Dozens more were injured in the blast - which survivors said they believed was caused when an industrial oven exploded - at the ICL Plastics and Stockline Plastics premises.

Many of those still trapped were believed to be senior managers who had been having a lunchtime meeting on an upper floor of the four-storey building when it collapsed.

They were lying under rubble at ground-floor level which firefighters said was highly unstable. The number of rescuers on the site was being limited to avoid causing further collapses which might injure those still inside.

Five trapped survivors had managed to make contact with rescuers using mobile phones, but it was thought a number of others were also inside the remains of the building in Grovepark Street, off Maryhill Road in the west of the city.

The company has 100 staff, but it was not known how many were there at the time of the explosion.

At least seven workers had been pulled from the rubble by early evening, although police confirmed that four others had died - three at the scene and one in hospital.

Up to 200 firefighters and members of the Grangemouth-based International Rescue - including some of those who had helped earthquake victims in Turkey and Afghanistan - were involved in what Strathclyde firemaster Brian Sweeney described as a "slow and painstaking" rescue operation.

Sniffer dogs and heat-seeking and listening devices were being used to locate survivors.

Late last night rescue workers used megaphones to appeal for silence at the site so that specialist workers could listen for sounds from those still trapped. Fire officers shouted out the names of those understood to be buried, but no reply could be heard.

Mr Sweeney said several firefighters were taken to hospital suffering from heat exhaustion and inhalation of fumes.

He said: "Many members of the public will be familiar with earthquake procedures in Turkey and Afghanistan. What we have here is a scene very similar to that. A great deal of delicate and difficult work has to be done.

"We think we will be here for a long time - for a minimum of 48 hours in a rescue capacity.

Emergency services were concentrating on two pockets beneath the rubble where survivors were still trapped. One young woman was pulled out of the rubble after being trapped for more than six hours.

Mr Sweeney said that a group of about ten were thought to have been holding a meeting in one of the upper floors.

The building was reduced to rubble in seconds at about noon. Witnesses described hearing a huge explosion and screams. Blood-soaked survivors ran into the street as debris rained down.

Hundreds of people had gathered in the streets, many shocked and crying as ambulances queued near the factory entrance and treatment tents were set up on the roadside.

Danny Gilmour, who suffered cuts to the head, said: "My boss is still in there. He was holding a conference in the conference room upstairs."

David Andrews, who was working inside the factory at the time but escaped uninjured, said: "It was mostly office workers in the bit that came down. I was working when I heard an almighty bang and I ran out. I couldn’t see anything for dust.

"I was trying to help pull people from the rubble," he said. "All my colleagues were lying on the ground with cuts and bruises to their heads and broken arms. The whole lot just came down on top of them."

Mr Andrews said he believed the explosion might have been connected with gas ovens in the coating department.

Rescue experts said people trapped under rubble had an "excellent" chance of being saved.

Graham Payne, a director of the disaster rescue service Rapid UK, said: "There is always a risk of structural collapse, but they’re going to have structural engineers on hand who will advise them, so they can secure one part before they move on to the next.

"Half the problem is locating exactly where these people are trapped. But they will have the plans to the factory to hand, and they’ve pulled survivors out so they’re going to know more or less where people are."

ICL Plastics, the parent company of adjoining Stockline Plastics, hit the headlines in 1995 when it was accused of selling electric-shock batons used to torture prisoners in a number of countries.

The former managing director of ICL Technical Plastics Ltd, Frank Stott, was accused in a Channel 4 documentary of offering the batons for sale.

The company said it only made "passive equipment", such as visors and shields but two years later Mr Stott, who left the firm, was fined 5,000 for possessing an electric baton.

The cause of the blast was still being investigated last night. Police had not ruled out foul play connected to the controversy and said it was too early to dismiss any possibility.

A spokeswoman for Transco said the gas supply to the building had been switched off, but she added that had not been a factor in the explosion.

The First Minister, Jack McConnell, said the explosion was "tragic and terrible" and his thoughts were with the family and friends of those involved.

The Queen was "shocked" and sent a sympathy message.

Liz Cameron, Lord Provost, said: "Events such as this - rare though they are, thankfully - tend to bring the people of Glasgow together, and I am sure they will join me in expressing our deepest condolences and sympathy to all concerned."