At 14:25hrs: The road has been closed and fire crews are establishing what the unknown liquid is.

At 15:00hrs Fire crews used two hose reel jets and washed the roadway down.

The incident occurred at just before 1pm.

Two casualties, a man and a woman, were trapped.

Firefighters used specialist cutting equipment to free the casualties. Both were left in the care of the Ambulance Service. The vehicles were made safe before crews left the scene.

The incident was dealt with by 14:08 hrs.

Crews wore two sets of breathing appparatus and used one hose reel to extinguish the fire by 4.30pm16:36hrs.

One man aged 62 years suffered from smoke inhalation and crews administered oxygen therapy.

The man was placed in the care of the ambulance service.

Further details to come.

The Ockendon Road at Pea Lane in North Ockendon has been blocked off due to a fallen tree.

With this road used increasingly as a “rat run”, drivers are advised to take an alternative route.

Traffic is slowly building up on the approach to the bridge from junction 30 (Lakeside).

With 30mph gusts expected all day, pedestrians and drivers are urged to take care.

Hazmat Officer, Assistant Divisional Officer Doug Sylvester said: “Our assessment has determined that the leak is small and does not pose a real risk of explosion.

“We had to take all the correct precautions before we were able to hand the site back to the owners. The tank contains 36,000 litres of liquid gas which expands by 250 times when released so this could have created a huge gas cloud and we needed to make sure that it did not pose a risk to the public.

“We initially had an 800 metre exclusion zone but we were able to quickly scale that back.”

No homes were evacuated as a result of this incident.

Port of Tilbury police were alerted to the leak at just after 9am this morning (Tuesday).

Staff at several office areas in the area including Basepoint Tilbury  could not gain access to their work while the roads were blocked.

Commuters going to and from the Tilbury ferry were also effected.

Essex Police assisted in the road closure.

Further updates to come.

The incident involved one vehicle and the casualty was trapped by his injuries.

The man was freed by 17:12 hrs and left in the care of the Ambulance Service.

The road was closed while firefighters dealt with the accident.

The driver of one of the vehicles left the scene before police arrival and police officers, the force helicopter and police dogs were all called in to search for him. He is still outstanding but police investigations are continuing to locate him.

The cars were all travelling in the same direction along the A13 when the collision occured and police want to speak to any witnesses who have not already contacted them.

The driver of a black Vauxhall Corsa, a 36 year old man from East London, a woman aged 28 and a 13 year old girl were all taken to Queens Hospital Romford with back, neck and leg pains, and were treated and released. The passengers in a grey Vauxhall Vectra, a 23 year old man from Rainham and 19 year old woman from Dartford, Kent were also taken to hospital with injures and the woman has a suspected broken collarbone and dislocated shoulder, another woman aged 29 was not injured.

Any witnesses to the crash should contact the Southern Road Policing unit on 0300 333 4444 0300 333 4444

“Daniel Lary, son of Steve and Sue, went to St Josephs primary school and then onto St Clere’s school in Stanford-le-Hope, where he learnt to play, and got his love for, rugby.

“Daniel had friends wherever he went, at school, rugby or work. He was part of a big family that loved him very much. He was a ‘big bear’ with such a big heart, and had a big cheeky grin that lit up a room. He could make everyone laugh, even if it was him they were laughing at, with his great sense of humour and his relaxed attitude to life. All these things made him so unique.

“His car was one of the loves of his life. Whether it was raining or hailing, he would be out there giving sweat and blood just to screw a bolt tighter. He was a well known regular at the gym, and worked out twice a day to be a ‘beefcake’.

“He loved his weekly routine of going to
Nan’s for a Sunday roast and every Wednesday he’d visit his dad Steve for steak and chips, whom he had a very close relationship with. They were like Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum or dumb and dumber. He was always there for his little sister Jade in every step of her life.

“Daniel leaves behind his beautiful 18-month-old daughter and his son, who is due to be born in six weeks, with his partner Nina, who he loved and shared a home with.

“He was very deep and very loving, and Daniel has left a huge hole in so many lives.”

The family request that the media respect their privacy at this time.

Laura Williams, 23, from Chelmsford, was killed when Giles Furnival of Winfields, Basildon, struck the car in which she was travelling as a front seat passenger.

Laura had been travelling in her boyfriend’s car when it was hit at speed between junctions 30 and 29 of the M25 at Thurrock on Wednesday, September 29, 2010. She was seriously injured and died in hospital two days later.

Furnival, 33, was sentenced to three and a half years imprisonment at Chelmsford Crown Court on Thursday, June 23, 2011 having previously pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving. He was also disqualified from driving for five years and ordered to take an extended driving test.

Inspector Keith Whiting from the Serious Collision Investigation Unit said: “Our investigation showed that Mr Furnival had suffered from epilepsy since he was a teenager but had never informed the DVLA.

“He suffered several epileptic episodes every month and it appears it was only a matter of time before he suffered an episode at the wheel.

“Unfortunately Laura Williams was the innocent victim in this incident. She had been shopping with her boyfriend and was the front seat passenger in his car which was being driven carefully in lane one of the M25 when it was struck at speed by Furnival’s vehicle returning from the hard shoulder.

“Our thoughts are with the Williams family at this time. I thank them all for their help and understanding with the investigation.

“I’m sure they would join me in saying to anyone driving with an unmanaged medical condition that they should think before they drive in future before someone else if killed or seriously injured and remember that people who cause this type of suffering face a jail sentence.”

The cause of the fire is unknown at this stage, ECFRS and the police will carry out an investigation.

Crews wore two sets of breathing apparatus and used one hose reel to extinguish the fire by 11:11hrs.

A thermal image camera was used to check for any remaining hotspots.

A man suffered from smoke inhalation and oxygen therapy was administered by crews.

Sub Officer Howard Midwood from Orsett fire station said:
“Crews were called to a fire in the upstairs of a semi-detached house. ECFRS Fire Control which handles the 999 calls advised the fire crew en-route to the incident that a man was running into his property to attempt to put the fire out himself.

Jackie Scaggs from ECFRS Control added “The original 999 call had been received from the man’s wife stating there was a fire in a bedroom upstairs and that her husband was attempting to put the fire out on his own. I asked the wife to put her husband on the phone to myself so that I could advise him that for his own safety not to enter the burning house and to reassure him that the firefighters were on there way, and not to panic.”

“When fire crews arrived the fire had taken hold of the bedroom and the area upstairs was heavily smoke logged. Crews wearing breathing apparatus entered the property to extinguish the fire.

Meanwhile other members of the fire crew were dealing with the man aged 37 years old who was suffering smoke inhalation and the rest of the family who were suffering from shock, including the wife and three children aged seven and five, and a one year old. The first floor of the house has been badly damaged by the fire and the smoke, and as a result the family have been made temporarily homeless.

“Thankfully the man had not endangered his life to tackle the fire on his own. It was down to a great team effort from the Crews and Control, and that Jackie had managed to calm the man down and stop him from going back into the property to fight the fire.

“It is advisable to have a working smoke alarm and a fire plan, discuss your plan with members of your family, so if you do have a fire you know what you need to do in the event of an emergency. If a fire breaks out in your home, you should get out, stay out and call 999 and wait for the fire service to arrive. Never try to tackle a fire in your home.” Said Sub Officer Midwood

ECFRS provides home fire safety visits to vulnerable members of the community and advice on fire plans and smoke alarms, please call 0845 6012495