250ft flames as dock blast rocks homes
THE roof of a docks grain store collapsed in an explosion that “sounded like a bomb going off”.
Flames shot 250 feet above silos as nearby houses shook in Tilbury, Essex.
Aislinn Ladd, 42, of Grays, told how she was feeding her baby when she heard the noise and windows vibrated.
She said: “I’ve never experienced anything like it, scared the hell out of me.”
Tony Coughlin, who lives nearby, said: “It was just horrendous. It sounded like a bomb going off and I saw the flames shoot up into the air. About six of the silos exploded, the tops are all gone.”
Crews found grain on fire inside the plant and were able to remove unaffected grain to stop the blaze spreading.
Images posted to social media showed the roof of the industrial building had partially caved in.
One person was taken to hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation, the East of England Ambulance Service said.
A spokesman for the Port of Tilbury said: “We confirm that there has been a major incident at the grain terminal.
“The cause of the explosion will now be the subject of a detailed investigation by the relevant authorities, and it will be some time until the results of that investigation are known.”
PRINCE Andrew was yesterday accused of evading authorities and urged to “step up, be a man and tell us what you know”.
His silence was a form of torture for victims of his paedophile friend, Jeffrey Epstein, said lawyers.
They spoke out after the Duke’s long-time friend Ghislaine Maxwell was charged with assisting Epstein in his perverted pursuits.
The British socialite was tracked down on Thursday at her remote hideout in New Hampshire.
She is accused of procuring three underage girls for Epstein to have sex with between 1994 and 1997 and also having sex with them herself. A former associate of Epstein’s last night said Maxwell will be “naming names”.
Maxwell, 58, was allegedly present the night in March 2001 when Virginia Giuffre, formerly Virginia Roberts, claims she had sex with Prince Andrew in London.
Abused
Giuffre was 17 at the time and says she was a “teenage sex slave” for financier Epstein, who died in jail aged 66 last year while awaiting trial on sex trafficking and conspiracy charges.
Andrew and his legal team have vehemently denied her allegations. The Prince said in a revealing BBC Newsnight interview last November that he has never met his accuser.
Giuffre “cried tears of joy” on learning of Maxwell’s arrest.
She said: “When I got the call I was elated, crying tears of joy, laughing… finally, we got her.
“It felt even better than when
Jeffrey got arrested. He was a paedophile, they cannot be cured. They either belong in jail or six feet under. Ghislaine, on the other hand, is an evil monster.”
She added: “This woman found me, groomed me, abused me and handed me over to Jeffrey and his friends.”
Yesterday, Gloria Allred, who represents a number of wealthy Epstein’s victims, said of Prince Andrew: “When is he going to tell what he knows?
“He needs to do that. He needs to do it without delay. It is so traumatising and difficult for the victims not to know the truth.
“And this kind of torture test that Prince Andrew is subjecting the victims to.Will he or won’t he give a statement… if he will, when?”
Fellow attorney Brad Edwards, who represents 55 women, said he believes the Prince is “deliberately evading authorities”.
“There are clients who are familiar with the fact that he was around and, you know, they’re familiar with the evidence. They know that he was on the flight logs. They know that he was in Ghislaine’s apartment withVirginia Roberts.
“They know that there are hard questions that he should be answering, especially if there’s any bit of a defence for his own actions. There’s no doubt that he’s deliberately evading authorities. I mean, how much more clear – when have you ever heard a US attorney’s office at a press conference say, ‘We’re inviting you to come over’?
“And he’s still, he’s not on plane right now coming over.” Fellow lawyer Spencer Kuvin said his clients are “relieved” by Maxwell’s arrest, but urged Andrew, 60, to speak out now.
“I certainly think Prince Andrew has a story to tell,” he said. “On behalf of the victims, we have continuously asked him to step forward, step up, be a man and tell us what he knows.” Following Maxwell’s arrest, Audrey Strauss, acting US Attorney for Southern District of New York, said of
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