Van ‘explodes’ in Trafalgar Square: Police and fire brigade rush to busy tourist attraction as shocked passers-by flee vehicle blaze
- Police and the fire brigade were called just before 8pm on Thursday evening
- Video showed crowd of people watching fire as sound of explosion rang out
- Another clip filmed from a bus showed onlooker shouting ‘oh my God’
A van ‘exploded’ following a fire near Trafalgar Square this evening, as shocked Londoners looked on.
Police and the fire brigade were called just before 8pm to an initial report that the Trafalgar Hotel near the central London hotspot was ablaze, but it turned out to be a vehicle fire, My London reported.
A video posted on social media shows a crowd of people watching the fire outside Admiralty Arch, before the sound of an explosion can be heard.
A van ‘exploded’ following a fire near Trafalgar Square this evening, as shocked Londoners looked on. Police and the fire brigade were called just before 8pm to an initial report that the Trafalgar Hotel near the central London hotspot was ablaze, but it turned out to be a vehicle fire
A separate clip filmed from the top of a London tour bus showed a different angle of the blaze, as an onlooker shouted ‘oh my God!’
One witness told MyLondon: ‘I could smell it from really far away. Like burning metal.
‘I saw it from the restaurant I was in. Me and my friend walked over to it, near the roundabout.
‘There was this one explosion. Then there were sparks coming from the van.’
A clip filmed from the top of a London tour bus showed a different angle of the blaze, as an onlooker shouted ‘oh my God!’
A London Fire Brigade spokesman told MailOnline that four fire engines responded to the incident.
The van was ‘significantly’ damaged but there were no injuries, they added.
It is not yet known what started the blaze, but no one is believed to have been in the van when it started.
Advertisement
Share or comment on this article:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10142651/Van-explodes-Trafalgar-Square-Police-fire-brigade-rush-busy-tourist-attraction.html
