Huge explosion ‘fuelled by EV batteries’ rips through airport killing boy, 15, & injuring 163 in blast felt for 20 miles
A BOY of 15 has been killed after a giant explosion feared to have been triggered by detonating electric car batteries was felt up to 20 miles away.
At least 163 were also injured following the huge blast in a customs warehouse near Tashkent Airport in Uzbekistan in the early hours.
Shocking footage shows the explosion at 2.43am local time, which caused damage to hundreds of houses and other buildings over a vast area.
Batteries for electric cars exploded at the airport warehouse, it is understood.
Dozens of ambulances ferries the wounded to hospitals and at least five children suffered wounds from shattered glass.
A 15-year-old boy died after a frame collapsed on his head due to the explosion.
It is unclear how many people were in the warehouse when it exploded.
Initial reports suggested a plane crash, forcing authorities in the ex-Soviet state to deny this was the cause of the thunderous explosion that shook much of the city.
The Uzbek Interior Ministry later claimed lightning struck a warehouse where electric cars and batteries were stored, sparking the blast and fire.
But there were later doubts that lightning had been a factor in the explosion.
There are suspicions explosives were also present in the Inter Logistics LLC warehouse given the scale of the blast, but this was officially denied.
Sixteen separate fire teams rushed to battle the enormous blaze which covered more than 32,000 square feet.
The blast wave was felt by residents of Nurafshan, a town south of Tashkent, some 20 miles from the epicentre of the explosion.
The Uzbek Emergencies Ministry said: “In some social media, fake news spread that the incident in the Sergeli district was a result of a plane crash. This is an absolute lie.”
The ministry later said it was working to establish full details of the cause of the explosion.
Flights at the nearby Tashkent airport were reportedly not impacted by the explosion and inferno.