TWO men had a miraculous escape when a tank containing 200,000 litres of oil exploded in flames.

But quicky work by firefighters and the Environment Agency prevented an ecological disaster, which could have shut down power stations and contaminated a wildlife site of international importance.

The men were working on the tank when it erupted sending out shock waves and a dense pall of smoke across the Hoo Peninsular near Rochester on Friday morning.

One of the men was taken to hospital with shock and minor injuries, but neither was seriously injured.

The explosion happened at Eco-Oil’s plant on the Kingsnorth Industrial Estate near Hoo. More than 100 fire fighters and 20 appliances tackled the blaze which was made all the more hazardous because of other tanks nearby.

Nearby businesses were evacuated and police cordoned off roads leading to the Estate in case there were further explosions.

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