- Jan 6, 2018
- 11,637
Nexus Factory Collapse Security Classification: PUBLIC
Nexus, a congregation of defence companies under one banner having derived specifically from BAE Systems held factories and office spaces across the entirety of the United Kingdom. One factory in particular is based in Scotland and is one of the areas that work as a shipyard to public facing orders. At this point, focus was the construction of four LP Odysseys for Sweden, three of them sat out of the warehouse itself whilst construction was taking place on the fourth. The facility was one of the larger ones with hundreds of staff present at any one time, having been standing for decades as one of BAE Systems first production plants, it was certainly one of the older buildings. At 10:47 that morning, a number of employees had reported what could only be described as cracking noises and rumbling within the walls of the inner factory. Line managers reviewed it and brushed it off, stating it was "nothing to worry about" but to continue working. A few hours passed, 1pm, which is when half of the factory goes for lunch as the employees were split into two teams to keep production going throughout the day. More rumbles heard, but this time they were discarded, following instructions from their line managers that it was nothing to concern themselves over.
Images of the factory prior to the collapse
Minutes away from half past two in the afternoon and a large clash was heard echoing through the factory, but nothing in sight to explain what had caused the sound. Seconds later, what appeared almost like bending plastic, the left wall of the factory caved in forcing the roof to tumble down. The force of the collapse was enough to push shelves and some serious structural damage to the Odyssey, forcing it to drop from its stand and crush anyone in its path. Flammable materials that was part of the collision exploded, causing ear-experiencing alarms and the fire suppression system to turn on. During this time, absolute panic covered the floors as people from the entire factory sought to escape from what would have been, certain death. Thus far, a number of people were missing and others, injured with two people pulled out and trained first aiders carrying out CPR. Others, in the safe parameters of the fire escape plan, were shook up or too busy trying to call 999 to get help, unsure if it was already coming.
999 Control Rooms suddenly became overwhelmed as hundreds of calls begun to come in, from those at the factory to those passing by or just in the area. The number of calls saw diversions in place to other control rooms to assist with the workload whilst emergency services scrambled. Police vehicles were first to arrive on scene and begun coordinating traffic to keep a lane available for other services, or aiming to help others trying to escape the building which at this point, was covered in black smoke, flames and having collapsed on itself. 4 minutes after the first 999 call and the first two Pumps arrived on scene from Scottish Fire and Rescue, then another, and another. In total, there were 20 Pumps, 3 Aerial Ladder Platforms, 2 Incident Response Units and a Command Unit on the way or already setting up. The USAR, Urban Search and Rescue team for Scottish Fire had also been deployed to assist their colleges from HART and other services.
Photos taken during the 999 Response