Coal news and updates

One dead and three missing in Didcot power station collapse

One person has died, four are in hospital and three are missing following a major incident at a defunct power station in Didcot, Oxfordshire where a large section of a building collapsed.

Police, fire, search and rescue and ambulance crews were called to the site of the former coal-fired Didcot A shortly after 4pm on Tuesday.

Although the building on the Didcot A site, which closed in 2013, had been due for demolition in the coming months, the collapse was unplanned.

A spokeswoman for nPower – which owns the Didcot A and B power stations – said: “We can confirm that shortly after 4pm this afternoon part of the boiler house at our former Didcot A power station site in Oxfordshire collapsed while an external demolition contractor was working in it. Our thoughts are with the families of all those involved in this tragedy.”

Coleman and Company, the firm behind the demolition, tweeted: “We are aware of an incident at Didcot A Power Station. We are working with all stakeholders to establish facts and will keep you updated.”

Oxfordshire’s deputy chief fire officer, Nathan Travis, said: “It is with great sadness that I have to confirm one person has died during this incident. Our priority now is to find the three missing people.

“The search will be a considerable undertaking due to the instability of the site. We expect the search will continue through the night and possibly into the coming days.” 

Speaking to reporters outside the site, Travis said at the peak of the incident there were 50 to 60 firefighters at the scene. Three fire engines had left the decommissioned power plant in the previous hour. 

Travis said the techniques being used to find the missing three workers had been tried and tested abroad by specialists in collapses following earthquakes. Asked whether his officers had dealt with something on this scale previously, he said: “In terms of Oxfordshire it is unique”. He said there was no indication of how long the search operation would continue. 

Source:The Guardian