Counter-terror police investigating Heathrow fire

Counter-terror officers from the Metropolitan Police are leading the investigation into a major fire that has closed Heathrow Airport.

The force said there was "currently no indication of foul play" but officers were retaining an "open mind at this time" into the cause of the blaze.

Flights were cancelled, people evacuated from their homes and local schools shut after two explosions and a fire at an electrical substation in Hayes, west London on Thursday night.

The airport previously warned it would be closed for the whole of Friday, but later said it was "able to begin some flights", although people should "not travel to the airport unless your airline has advised you to".

A spokesperson added the first flights would focus on "repatriating the passengers who were diverted to other airports in Europe... and relocating aircraft", with plans "to run a full operation tomorrow".

British Airways announced eight of its long-haul flights had been cleared to leave Heathrow during the evening and it was "urgently contacting customers to let them know".

• Follow live updates: Major flight disruption expected as Heathrow closes

A Met spokesperson said its Counter Terrorism Command was leading the investigation due to "the location of the substation and the impact this incident has had on critical national infrastructure".

They added the command has the "specialist resources and capabilities" to progress the investigation "at pace to minimise disruption and identify the cause".

Emergency services were first called to the scene at 23:20 GMT. Video shared on social media showed tall flames and smoke billowing from the substation overnight.

London Fire Brigade (LFB), which is also taking part in the investigation, said the fire involved a transformer containing 25,000 litres (5,500 gallons) of cooling fluid, that had been set alight.

More than 65,000 homes in the area were left without power as a result, as well as the airport.

Electricity had been returned to most by 06:00 and at 14:00 National Grid said "the network has been reconfigured to restore all customers impacted... [and] resupply the parts of Heathrow Airport that are connected to North Hyde".

As at 14:30 more than 1,300 flights had been disrupted due to the airport's closure, according to the air traffic website flightradar24.com, with 1,149 of those being cancelled and 119 diverted.

Some 200,000 passengers are thought to have been affected by the closure of what is Europe's busiest airport.

The Energy Secretary Ed Miliband told BBC Radio 4's Today programme it was an unprecedented event which "appears to have knocked out a back-up generator as well as a substation itself".

Ruth Cadbury, chair of the Commons Transport Committee, said the issue "does raise questions about infrastructure resilience".

A Downing Street spokesperson said: "There are questions to answer... but our clarity right now is on this incident being appropriately dealt with."

They added it "wouldn't be unreasonable to expect checks on resilience" were being carried out at other major airports.

A multi-agency call has been held between government department officials, as well as National Grid, the Civil Aviation Authority, National Air Traffic Services, and emergency services to "ensure a quick resolution" of the situation, they continued.

Ofgem, the energy regulator, announced it would commission a review "to understand the cause of this incident and what lessons can be learned".

Apologising to passengers, Heathrow's chief executive Thomas Woldbye described the blaze as "an incident of major severity".

"We have lost power equal to that of a mid-sized city and our backup systems have been working as they should but they are not sized to run the entire airport."

He added that "short of anybody getting hurt, this is as big as it gets for our airport and we are actually coming back quite fast".

Ten fire engines and about 70 firefighters were sent to tackle the blaze, LFB said, with the fire being brought under control by 06:30.

A 200m (656 ft) cordon was put in place as a precaution, and local residents have been advised to keep doors and windows closed because of a "significant amount of smoke".

The brigade, which received nearly 200 calls about the fire, added it led 29 people to safety, with about 150 others being evacuated from nearby properties.

Most of those had returned home by 17:00, according to LFB.

A group of residents who were evacuated from their homes gathered at a nearby Premier Inn but said there had been little communication overnight, leaving them confused about where to go.

Vaneca Sinclair, 64, said she was "getting ready to go to bed" when "suddenly there was this huge bang and the house just shook".

"I thought maybe someone had crashed into the wall or something and then opened the front door... and there were just these flames everywhere down at the bottom of the road."

She described the scene as "unbelievable – the flames and the smoke and everything… it was just scary".

Ms Sinclair said police later told them to return home and grab essentials before evacuating, but no-one told them where to gather and eventually they walked to the hotel where they could have hot drinks and use the toilets.

Her neighbour Savita Kapur, 51, said she "literally just ran out of the house" when she heard the first explosion.

She said police officers told them to go back inside before eventually telling her she needed to leave.

"I have an elderly mother who is in her 80s and not very well at all - I had to escort her into my car and get her out of the area and drop her off to my sisters."

Ms Kapur said a "second explosion went off" as she was driving along the road "and the whole ground shook".

Hillingdon Council said in an update on its website: "Most evacuees have dispersed and have made arrangements themselves, and the council is assisting 12 people with hotel accommodation until it is safe to return to their homes."

Four schools - Pinkwell Primary, Botwell House, Dr Tripletts and The Global Academy - were closed along with Nestles Avenue Early Years Centre and Pinkwell Children's Centre.

Laurie O'Brien, head teacher at Pinkwell Primary School, said his team had decided to shut the school because of the safety advice saying local residents should remain inside, as well as travel difficulties in the local area.

"Parents and children, bar maybe a handful, didn't come into school, and the support from parents has been great because they've totally understood," he explained.

"A lot of our families have been affected by having to be evacuated from their homes or actually not being able to make their way in because they haven't got any power."

Independent MP for Hayes and Harlington, John McDonnell, said he was "pretty shocked" and worried about the situation faced by local residents.

"There have to be questions asked about how the council reacted to this," he said.

"I don't want to be over-critical but I think they need to improve their performance. A lot of the residents didn't feel very happy about not having information until quite late on."

Heathrow is the UK's largest aviation hub, handling about 1,300 landings and take-offs each day. A record 83.9 million passengers passed through its terminals last year, according to its latest data.

Numerous airlines with flights due to land at or take off from Heathrow have been cancelled or diverted to other airports.

Passengers have been advised to contact their airlines for the latest updates.

A family from Texas faced frustration after arriving at Heathrow for their flight home to Dallas to find the airport closed on Friday morning.

Andrew Sri, his wife, and their three children, aged one to eight, had been visiting his sister in east London.

"I just wish they had updated us accordingly," Mr Sri said, as the family waited for updates at the terminal.

"Now we've got here and they told us, 'actually the airport's been shut down', so it's a little bit disappointing."

BBC journalist Thomas Mackintosh was among several bleary-eyed Scots in Athens who attended the Nations League football match against Greece on Thursday but were up before sunrise for a flight to Heathrow.

He said the group had cleared passport control and security in good time and as they were queuing for some breakfast a staff member shouted: "All flights to Heathrow cancelled."

He managed to get a seat on another flight to Gatwick and said others were having to find different ways to get home.

"We know of a few other Tartan Army friends who have tried to get flights back to Scotland via Dublin, Milan, and Rome. I've even heard Istanbul mentioned - so it gives you an idea of the fresh travel plans people are having to draw up and fork out for."

• Heathrow Express, which connects the airport with Paddington station, has been running a half-hourly reduced service
• The Elizabeth line previously had no service between Hayes & Harlington and Heathrow Airport, but is now running as normal
• The Piccadilly line, which also goes to the airport, is running with a good service
• Hillingdon Council said local road closures had affected bus routes during the day, with diversions and cancellations being put in place
• The M4 was shut between junction three and four and the Terminal Four spur roads were also closed, according to the council

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