North London rocked by explosion at former petrol station.
A man in his 50s died in an explosion at a site in north London earlier today, police have said.
Emergency services and the London Air Ambulance were called to an “industrial incident” on Swain’s Lane, Highgate, just after 14.00 GMT.
The site was once a petrol station and part of the demolition work required removing underground tanks.
The explosion “sounded like a bomb”, locals said. The area is cordoned off and police remain on scene.
Highgate councillor and Green London Assembly Member Sian Berry told the BBC that builders had been due to remove petrol tanks from the site this week.
She said: “It’s absolutely shocking. I was there last Friday and saw a big tank that used to store petrol. The first stage of construction was taking these tanks away.”
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