Firemen reported killed in explosions at fireworks factory

Two firemen were reported to have died and several were seriously hurt by exploding fireworks yesterday as they tackled a major blaze at a fireworks depot.

The firefighters were caught up in the blast 20 minutes after arriving. The explosion was described by a member of the emergency services as "like a bomb going off". Several explosions shook homes near the Festival Fireworks factory, near Lewes, East Sussex.

The fire is thought to have started in the early afternoon at the Broyle industrial estate in Ringmer, a small village close to Glyndebourne Opera House, and fireworks were still going off several hours later.

Martin Winter, the owner of the company, and his family were unhurt, despite their bungalow being destroyed. His brother, John, said: "Thankfully they managed to get out of the factory safely, but their house has burnt down. Tiles and windows were blown into neighbouring houses." Residents were evacuated to a community college, and casualties were taken to Royal Sussex County Hospital, in Brighton, and Eastbourne District General.

At least eight fire crews, six ambulances and dozens of police officers attended the scene. An eyewitness, Richard Mitchell, 30, said: "It was like a fireworks display with a fire in the middle of it. It was manic, we saw 10 or 12 fire engines go past, as well as four or five ambulances."

Another witness, Malcolm Simpson, who lives eight miles away, said: "I was sitting in my front room at about 2.20pm when I heard a large explosion and I saw several emergency services vehicles going past. I went outside my house and could see black smoke spreading across the sky."

John Davies, of The Black Lion pub, in nearby Halland, said customers felt the building shake as the fireworks exploded. "The noise just kept getting louder and louder. About 3.00pm was the loudest bang. It actually shook the pub and probably shook most of the houses in the village," he said.

Mark Hazleden was driving along the A22 road with his wife and 11-month-old son when he saw the fire. He said: "There was a huge explosion which was heard for miles around. There were fireworks going off everywhere, it was quite a horrific scene."

Janine Bell, a South East Coast Ambulance Service spokeswomen, would not confirm reports that two firemen had died. She said: "It has been a very serious incident, there have been a number of casualties, some of them have received very serious injuries. We have declared this as a major incident, but at the moment I am not able to confirm any numbers."

Sussex Police said three officers had suffered comparatively minor injuries.

The Festival Fireworks website says the company has arranged displays for the Queen Mother's birthday, the Lord Mayor's show in London and the Edinburgh Military Tattoo.