7pm update

The 42-year-old Rotherham man airlifted to Leeds General Hospital this afternoon has now died as a result of the injuries he suffered in the industrial explosion at Sterecycle on Sheffield Road.

5pm statement

Two men have been taken to hospital following an industrial explosion at a business site on Sheffield Road, Rotherham, this afternoon.

Emergency services were called to Sterecycle – a business close to Magna Science Adventure Centre – at 2.40pm today after a waste incinerator exploded creating a hole in the side of the factory and causing damage to parked cars across the road.

Sheffield Road is currently closed between its junctions with Bessemer Way and the M1 but is due to reopen at around 5.15pm.

A 42-year-old Rotherham man has been airlifted to Leeds General Hospital with what are being described as life-threatening injuries. A 50-year-old Barnsley man has been taken by ambulance to the Northern General Hospital with serious, potentially life-changing, head and body injuries.

Investigators from South Yorkshire Police and the Health and Safety Executive are currently at the scene with enquiries ongoing into the cause of the explosion.