Inquiry after explosion at arms plant

AN investigation has been launched after an explosion at an arms manufacturing plant in Monmouthshire.

South Wales Fire and Rescue Service yesterday said they were dealing with an incident at the premises of BAE Systems Glascoed in the Usk area of the county.

The emergency service said they were called to the scene at around 10.49am on Wednesday, April 17, after an explosion occurred within a building.

They said that they had set up an incident control post to deal with the incident.

In a statement shared on social media, the emergency service said: “At 10.49am on Wednesday, April 17, an incident occurred at the premises of BAE Systems Glascoed when an explosion occurred within a building.

“All emergency services are at the scene and an Incident Control Post has been set up to deal with the incident.”

BAE Systems is the UK’s biggest defence firms.

According to the BBC, a representative of BAE Systems said that safety protocols were “immediately enacted” and that a full investigation had been launched.

The firm added that all of its personnel were accounted for.

They said: “Our emergency response team continues to monitor the facility. We have launched a full investigation”.

A witness told the South Wales Argus: “It wasn’t that loud from where I was but it felt like an earthquake. My car shook.”

The 1,000-acre site near Usk has been an arms manufacturing plant since 1940 when it began producing munitions during World War Two.

It is currently operated by defence contractor BAE systems.

The site takes empty ammunition bodies from BAE’s plant at Washington, Tyne and Wear and fills them with explosives, making artillery shells and charges.

BAE says it supplies 80% of the armed forces’ general munitions for training and operations.