A large fire has ripped through a major recycling plant in central England owned by Smurfit Kappa, with a large amount of paper and cardboard bales on fire in a warehouse.
About 8,000 tons of paper and cardboard have gone up in flames at the recycling plant.
Up to 110 firefighters had been tackling the blaze at its height at the Smurfit Kappa storage yard in the Nechells area on the outskirts of Birmingham city centre, West Midlands Fire Service said.
It said fire crews from across the West Midlands region around Birmingham were battling to contain the blaze. It said there were no reports of any casualties. Dramatic drone footage, shot at night and later released by the brigade, showed the scale of the incident.
Emergency services were first called to the site at about 7.40pm on Sunday. More than 30 fire appliances were deployed and 8,000 litres of water a minute were being pumped from a nearby canal at one point, fire chiefs said.
Investigators will start work on Monday to try to work out what started the blaze. – Reuters / PA
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