One dead and three rushed to hospital after explosion in Bedford

One man died and three people were hospitalized after a suspicious explosion at an industrial facility.

Emergency services arrived at the scene on Brunel Road in Bedford just before 4pm on Thursday and remained for several hours.

3 injured people were treated in hospital.

Fire crews left around 7pm and officers will remain on site until the investigation is handed over to the Health and Safety Executive.

Police said roads in the area have reopened after being initially closed and the cordon originally put in place has now been removed.

Local witnesses described the incident on social media as a “bombshell” or “fiery attack”.

One of them said: ‘I was walking along Priory Marina and heard this. It looked like a bomb exploding, so if there was gas there must have been a pretty big explosion. Thoughts are shared by everyone involved.’

Another wrote: ‘It sounded like some sort of explosion followed by a lot of debris falling.’

A third commented: ‘I went for a walk in Priory park with my daughter this afternoon and heard what I thought were fireworks going off, my daughter thought it was a shooting.’

Bedfordshire Police said: ‘Roads have now reopened following an earlier incident at an industrial unit on Brunel Road in Bedford.

‘An initial cordon was established following reports of a suspicious explosion for the safety of the public, but this cordon has now also been stopped.

‘One person died at the scene, and the other 3 people were taken to hospital and treated.

‘Officers will remain in the area until the investigation is handed over to the Health and Safety Executive in due course.

‘We would ask everyone to respect the family and friends of everyone involved and not speculate on this post.’