Treforest explosion: One missing after ‘fireball’ erupts in South Wales – live

A woman shopping in a nearby Tesco said the car park “shook” following a “horrific bang”.

Carys Elizabeth, 26, described the explosion she witnessed in Treforest as a “large fireball” followed by “unimaginable flames”

The council worker told The Independent: “I witnessed the fire from the Tesco car park. As I was walking to my car I heard the most horrific bang and the car park shook.

“The flames and fire were unimaginable. When I was driving past the estate a lady approached my car and said they were clearing the area as the gym and tile place had gone up in flames.”

She added: “Everyone in the car park thought [the sound] was a truck on the A470. It was a very large fireball.”

Local councillor Andrew Morgan said this morning that firefighting operations are still ongoing on-site as concern grows for one person still missing.

The Rhondda Cynon Taf council leader wrote on X that “damping down” is still ongoing and structural officers from council will be on the scene at first light.

He added that there is “concern still one person missing”.

A tattoo artist who works on the industrial estate that suffered a huge blaze last night said the business has been “destroyed” by the explosion.

Tattoo artist Lucy Artiss, 40, who works at Sixteen Circles in Rizla House on Treforest Industrial Estate, said: “What I know is the explosion destroyed the entrance. Our tattoo shop is destroyed as well as the gym.

“I left just before it happened so I didn’t witness it,” she said, adding that her coworker, his client and gym staff “all managed to get out of the fire exit”.

“It was a lovely place, had a wonderful family feel to it. I’m gutted to have lost that.”

Local NHS emergency departments are on “high alert” after the blaze, with people asked not to attend A&E unless “absolutely necessary”.

My colleague Lydia Patrick has more:

South Wales Police said there had been no reports of any injuries following the explosion and fire at Treforest Industrial Estate in Rhondda Cynon Taff.

The force said emergency services remain at the scene in Severn Road, following reports of an explosion at around 7pm on Wednesday, with the two-storey building “at risk of collapse”.

Roads around the estate have been closed and are expected to remain closed into Thursday morning. Residents living nearby have been told to keep their windows and doors shut.

Deputy chief fire officer Dewi Rose said: “At 7.05pm this evening South Wales Fire and Rescue Service responded to repeat calls about an explosion at Mindset Gym, Rizla House, Severn Road on Treforest Industrial Estate, Pontypridd.

“SWFRS currently has 16 pumping appliances, a number of special appliances and officers in attendance. The latest from the scene is that the building, a large multi-use use two storey, commercial premises, is totally alight and at risk of collapse.

“Our partners from South Wales Police, WAST, Wales & West Utilities, NRW, RCTCBC, CTMUHB and National Grid are supporting us to deal with the incident, and at the moment our focus is firmly fixed on the emergency response.”

One person is unaccounted for, at least one building has been destroyed and a major incident was declared after an explosion at an industrial estate in South Wales.

Flames and smoke were seen after a fire broke out at a property on Severn Road, Treforest Industrial Estate, at around 7pm on Wednesday.

The two-storey building was “totally alight” and “at risk of collapse”, South Wales Fire and Rescue Service said.

Three people were treated at the scene before they were discharged, a Welsh Ambulance Service spokesperson said.

Local NHS emergency departments were on “high alert” after the blaze, with people asked not to attend A&E unless “absolutely necessary”.

There are no reports of any serious injuries, however one person remains unaccounted for, South Wales Police said.

A woman who works at a tattoo studio at the industrial estate in south Wales said the business has been “destroyed” by the fire.

Tattoo artist Lucy Artiss, 40, who works at Sixteen Circles in Rizla House on Treforest Industrial Estate, said: “What I know is the explosion destroyed the entrance. Our tattoo shop is destroyed as well as the gym.

“I left just before it happened so I didn’t witness it,” she said, adding that her coworker, his client and gym staff “all managed to get out of the fire exit”.

“It was a lovely place, had a wonderful family feel to it. I’m gutted to have lost that.”

South Wales Police said its officers were at the scene of a “serious incident” in Severn Road in Treforest, a village outside Pontypridd – and that roads around the estate had been closed.

Local NHS emergency departments are on “high alert” after the blaze, with people asked not to attend A&E unless “absolutely necessary”.

The BBC reported how eyewitnesses heard a “massive explosion” and local authorities are warning residents to avoid the area.

Krishnaraj Nadarajah, the manager of a nearby petrol station, said: “It felt like it was an earthquake or something. We went outside and there was a fire starting to build up, it was a huge fire and smoke.”