Two people have been injured after a reported explosion at a steelworks.
Police officers, firefighters and paramedics were called to the Lackenby site in Redcar, near Middlesborough, on Thursday afternoon.
The office of the Tees Valley mayor said there was “an ongoing incident at the South Bank coke ovens, which is part of the SSI steelworks site”.
North East Ambulance Service said it sent “hazardous area response teams” after being alerted to the apparent blast at 2.10pm.
Cleveland Police said it had been called to reports of a fire “at the former SSI site in South Bank”.
Shortly before 6pm it said it had erected a cordon 150m away from the site. There were no homes within the boundary, it said.
Two people have been hurt, but the force said it could not confirm how badly they were injured.
“The Health and Safety Executive has been informed,” it said in a statement.
A witness told Gazette Live he saw a “massive” fireball.
He added: “I can only describe it as something you would see in the Gulf war. It went higher than the big tower.
“The ground shook and I heard a muffled sound. A bit like an aeroplane flying over.”
