UK factory blast kills four
LONDON, England (CNN) -- Four people have been killed and a number of people remain unaccounted for after an explosion at a plastics factory in the Scottish city of Glasgow, emergency services say.
Thirty-six people were injured of whom 16 are in a serious condition after Tuesday's blast near the center of the city, a Glasgow fire brigade spokesman told CNN.
Rescue workers recovered six people from the rubble of the Stockline Plastics factory and on Tuesday evening said they were in communication with five people still trapped.
But they said more bodies or survivors could still be inside the wrecked building as a number of people remain unaccounted for.
Specialist disaster rescue teams have now arrived from England and rescuers are using sniffer dogs, heat and ultrasound detectors.
A police spokesman told CNN emergency services conducted atmospheric tests and no airborne chemical release were detected. There was no fire or threat to local residents.
The fire brigade said early investigations indicated the explosion was an industrial accident; police earlier ruled out terrorism as a cause.
A worker at a car showroom directly opposite the building told the Press Association: "Our building shook. We ran out and could not believe what we saw. It had completely collapsed. There was smoke, bricks, concrete, rubble everywhere.
"It was such a big bang, tiles in our showroom fell off the ceiling and the ground seemed to move."
Glasgow Evening Times reporter Stewart Patterson told Sky News: "The building has been almost completely flattened into a pile of rubble, the debris was flying everywhere after the blast, and clouds of smoke are covering the area.
"There's only a small section still standing. ... Quite a crowd has gathered and paramedics and emergency services are digging through the rubble with their hands. it looks like a site after a powerful earthquake."
