Hinstock warehouse collapse: Workers heard 'sonic boom' as they ran for their lives
A worker today described the collapse that trapped a man at a Shropshire warehouse for nine hours as sounding like a "sonic boom".
Peter Gee was in the building next door to the warehouse in Hinstock when he heard a loud noise.
The warehouse at Edwards Transport contained 20kg blocks of cheese when racking inside the building collapsed.
"We were working in the next door shed at about 9.30am and heard a huge rumbling noise," said Mr Gee, who works for Cool Services.
"I thought it could have been a sonic boom but it kept going for 20 seconds.
"We came out and saw all the guys running out.
"You could see the walls of the warehouse were bulging out and the site was evacuated."
SEE MORE pictures and videos from the scene here
The collapse sparked a massive search inside the building for a missing man, who is believed to have been fork lift truck driver Tomasz Wiszniewski.
"I have been working with Edwards Transport for about 20 years now and they are a brilliant family business. I feel very sick for them and the man who became trapped," Mr Gee added.
Access to the site was restricted as the search operation began.
Specialist teams cut open metal panels to the side of the warehouse as they attempted the rescue.
A crane was brought in and a panel was also taken off the roof.
A drone with a camera was placed on standby to get a view from above the warehouse if needed.
From the outside, a slight bulge could be seen to the warehouse.
But inside the true devastation became clear as racks of cheese toppled into each other like dominoes.
A worker from Pennills Scrapyard on Hatton Road said: "I heard sirens and wondered what was going on."
Neil Taylor, manager of Lazy Days on the A41, said: "We saw the ambulances going to the scene and thought there had been a traffic accident.
"There have been lots of emergency services going there.
"We can't see anything from our business."
The Health and Safety Executive said it had been informed of the accident but it was too early to say whether it would be carrying out a thorough investigation.
"The fire service and police are in the lead on this.
"We are aware of it and are making initial inquiries, but it is far too early to say if we will be investigating it," a spokeswoman said.
Midlands Air Ambulance, paramedics and police were at the scene, while the road outside was blocked off to restrict access to the property.
The Urban Search and Rescue Team from Birmingham and a dog team from Leicester were also sent to support the 13 fire crews.
Firefighters were seen having team meetings at the site and watched on as specialist dog search and rescue teams went into the building.
Claire Brown, spokeswoman for West Midlands Ambulance Service, said one worker was treated immediately after the accident for shock.
A Midlands Air Ambulance from Cosford was sent with a doctor on board.
A second doctor, ambulance, two paramedic officers and Hazardous Area Response Team (Hart) paramedics were also on the scene. Kieren Bodill, operational communications assistant for West Mercia Police, said: "We attended an incident on Hatton Road near Hinstock due to concerns of the safety of a building.
"We have been managing traffic and have blocked off the entrance to Hatton Road while the emergency services worked."
Rod Thomson, Shropshire Council's director of public health, said: "Shropshire Council is aware of the incident via the fire and rescue service.
"At this stage we have not be asked to provide any support.
"We will continue to be updated via the fire service."
The family-run company has had a transport and storage operation at Ferneydale, Hinstock, for about 40 years.
About 18 months ago the company submitted a planning application to build a replacement chilled warehouse, two-storey office block and a car park.
At the time bosses said they needed to be able to deal with an increase in business from Ireland.
It is not known whether it is the same warehouse yesterday's collapse took place in.
