Explosion in Hemel

As anyone watching any UK news reports should know by now, there's been a huge explosion at a fuel storage facility in Hemel Hempstead, resulting in a black cloud of smoke spreading across a large part of southern England. John at The England Project, who lives in Hemel Hempstead, has been liveblogging the event. At the moment, it's looking like this was most likely the result of an equipment failure or maintenance error. Although terrorism can't be ruled out, it's looking unlikely. Certainly early rumours of a plane hitting the site have been discounted.

It's a miracle that nobody was killed. I'm assuming that this means that everybody who was supposed to have been in the area at the time is accounted for.

While it doesn't affect me directly, the location appears to be very close to the head office of my current employer. The company website is currently not accessible; this doesn't look good.

Update. Looks like the place took the full force of the explosion. BBC News reports:

Northgate Information Solutions - the UK's leading supplier of specialist software for human resources - said four of its employees had been taken to hospital but were later discharged.

In a statement to the stock market, Northgate said: "The fabric of the building and the fixtures and equipment inside have been badly damaged. The back-up systems that were in place have also been rendered inoperable.

"Northgate's ability to service its customers has therefore been temporarily affected."

The firm, whose shares fell in early trade, said a fall-back plan had been put into action, and work transferred to other offices from its main headquarters, where 400 people are employed.

"Northgate's financial exposure is limited by its insurance policies that provide sufficient cover for the building and its contents as well as for any business interruption," it said.