One person unaccounted for after reports of explosion at industrial estate in Pontypridd

Kate Lewis reports from the scene.

Emergency services remain at the scene of a large fire at an industrial estate in Treforest, Pontypridd, after reports of an explosion shortly after 7pm on Wednesday evening.

No serious injuries have been reported, say South Wales Police, but one person remains unaccounted for.

Work is ongoing to extinguish the building which South Wales Fire and Rescue Service say is at risk of collapse.

A joint investigation team from South Wales Fire and Rescue Service and South Wales Police, in conjunction with the Health and Safety Executive are now on site to determine the cause of the fire.

CCTV from the blast at Treforest Industrial Estate.

• Video credit: The Trefforest Brewery

A South Wales Police spokesperson said: "Emergency services remain at the scene of a fire at a premises on Severn Road, Treforest Industrial Estate, Rhondda Cynon Taff.

"This follows reports of an explosion at a property shortly after 7.00pm last night. There are no reports of any serious injuries. However, one person remains unaccounted for.

"The fire is now largely extinguished, with small pockets of fire remaining. Some roads and businesses in the area will still be affected.

"Six pumping appliances, several other appliances and crews remain in attendance. A High Volume Pump had been drawing water from the River Taff, although this has been scaled back and is planned to be withdrawn by around midday, to enable the opening of more roads, which will further alleviate traffic in the area."

People living nearby are being advised to keep windows and doors closed whilst work to control the fire is underway.

Roads around the area of Treforest Industrial Estate remain closed, with South Wales Police asking people to avoid the area.

Speaking to ITV News, Scott Yorath, a sales assistant at a local pet shop near to the scene of the fire, said he had finished at work just an hour before the explosion.

"They had felt the explosion on the ground and they heard the explosion down in McDonalds.

"People who live in the local area, just round the corner there's houses, they felt their houses shaking pretty much.

"I couldn't imagine it really myself what they saying. I'd already finished at least an hour from the shop and I was home. And then I heard it all over the news so I rushed down. But obviously the emergency services are not letting us go down, given how dangerous it is."

Another eyewitness said: "There is rubble everywhere and explosions still happening. Windows are blown out ... I’ve never seen so many ambulances. There are ambulances as far as the eye can see."

Peter Niall Griffiths lives around a mile away from the scene. He described hearing a "loud bang which I knew was some sort of explosion".

"I thought it might have been the chemical depot," he continued.

"Until asking family members, such as my mum and father, that it was more closer to Petwise or the mindset gym, which is where the fire started. 

"I could see the fire slowly start to build a large black billowing cloud roughly 300 to 500 feet high, and you could see the roof slowly start to collapse which eventually gave way allowing for a big billowing and aggressive flame to come through the roof."

Mr Griffiths added: "You could hear the ambulances and fire trucks/engines arriving on the scene and see them traveling across the bridge, but the biggest shock was seeing the fire continuing to build and travel to the buildings around it, resulting in another smaller explosion.

"My entire cul-de-sac heard the initial explosion and all came out of their houses wondering what had happened."

A woman who works at a tattoo studio at the industrial estate in south Wales said the business has been “destroyed” by the fire.

Tattoo artist Lucy Artiss, 40, who works at Sixteen Circles in Rizla House on Treforest Industrial Estate, said: “What I know is the explosion destroyed the entrance. Our tattoo shop is destroyed as well as the gym.

“I left just before it happened so I didn’t witness it,” she said, adding that her coworker, his client and gym staff “all managed to get out of the fire exit”.

“It was a lovely place, had a wonderful family feel to it. I’m gutted to have lost that.”

Roy Wells is a Rapid Relief Team volunteer. He said the group first arrived at the scene at around 11:30pm on Wednesday evening and worked though the night helping provide around 100 emergency service workers with food and drink.

“There was a lot of panic because there were ambulances and fire engines everywhere", Mr Wells recalled.

"There had been an explosion that had rocked the whole area, the whole area was locked down so we had access within the cordon and we were right by the instant command centre when we got here.”

Ken Thomas, Director and owner of Petwise, said recalled recieving the phone call about the explosion last night as “horrendous”.

“I was thinking the worst because it was so close, it was virtually next door." Said Mr Thomas.

"This incident was live on Facebook and we had staff members in the area who gave us a call at the seven o’clock mark and we could only think the worst. Until we got the official answer that the explosion was next door, it was a waiting game.

“A couple members of our staff have been inside and I’m pleased to say that there’s no structural damage, there’s no smoke damage - the fire seems to have gone in a completely opposite direction and all the animals, the fish, exotics, rabbits - everything’s fine.”

Integer Telecom, a telecommunication provider, said in a Facebook post its building was destroyed in the explosion, adding: “All our staff are safe and unharmed and business will resume as normal."

Jonny Foxhall, 36, the owner of nearby music venue Green Rooms, said: “Our front door was flung open so we went out to see what had happened.

“We could see a smoke cloud and an orange glow from above the treeline quickly followed by flames.”

He added: “To feel the shockwave from the explosion is something I’ve never experienced before.”

Communities in the South Wales Valleys have had a “very difficult week”, the Labour MP for Pontypridd said.

Labour MP Alex Davies-Jones told the House of Commons: “This has been a very difficult week for Pontypridd and Taff-Ely.

“Last night a serious fire and explosion in Treforest occurred and sadly one person is still unaccounted for.

“On Monday evening, three young men tragically lost their lives in a car crash in my home village of Tonyrefail, and two people are still fighting for their lives in hospital.

“This awful news has hit our close-knit community very hard, and all of our thoughts are with Callum, Jesse, and Morgan’s loved ones at this very difficult time, as well as all of those still recovering.

“Our emergency services have acted exemplary in both situations and I would like to place on record my sincere thanks to everyone who ran towards the danger and tried to help.”

The Welsh Ambulance Service dispatched ten emergency vehicles and seven rapid response vehicles in response to the incident but has since been stood down after treating three people at the scene.

"The decision was taken because we are no longer required to treat patients at the scene and to allow our resources to attend to emergencies within the community.

"We treated three patients at the scene before discharging them."

Cwm Taf Morgannwg Health Board and Swansea Bay University Health Board have also announced they are "standing down" from a high alert following the fire.

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To know...