LONDON, Dec. 11 (Xinhuanet) -- British police said the cause of the large fuel depot explosions near Hemel Hempstead, around 40 km north of London, is not yet known but no third party, a plane or terrorists, was involved, the Sky News said on Sunday.

    A resident living near the storage told BBC earlier that he had heard an aircraft fly low in the sky right before the blast, but police later found no indication of aircraft near the explosion site.

    According to the Sky news, there were unconfirmed reports that eight people were killed in the blasts, but so far all but two people have been accounted for.

    The huge blast, followed by several smaller ones, appeared to be centered around the Buncefield fuel depot near junction 8 of the M1 motorway at 6:03 am local time (0603 GMT), and was so powerful that could be felt more than 30 km away.

    Houses near the Buncefield fuel depot have been evacuated and emergency services are handing out gas masks.

    The cloud of acrid smoke is moving south and beginning to obscure main roads, including the M40 motorway, according to reports.

    Experts said all the fire crews can do in this type of situation is to cut off the fuel supply and wait for the burning out of the fire, during which there is "every chance of another explosion." Enditem