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Lorry erupts into fireball near The Orchards shopping centre and Aldi supermarket in Dartford

A dramatic video shows a lorry engulfed by flames close to a Kent shopping centre tonight.

Fire crews rushed to the scene in Suffolk Road, Dartford, after the vehicle erupted into a fireball, believed to have been started deliberately.

In a short clip filmed by Naweed Hotak, the lorry is seen in a loading bay behind The Orchards shopping centre and neighbouring Aldi supermarket.

A fire engine pulls up and crews jump out of the vehicle and quickly start tackling the flames with a hose as Mr Hotak looks on and says three times: “It’s getting worse.”

It is not clear whether a transit van close to the lorry was impacted by the blaze, which continued to burn until the video’s conclusion.

Mr Hotak, however, says the crews were able to “extinguish the fire effectively”.

Fire crews arrive at the scene of the lorry fire in Suffolk Road, Dartford, and quickly start tackling the flames. Picture: Naweed Hotak
Fire crews arrive at the scene of the lorry fire in Suffolk Road, Dartford, and quickly start tackling the flames. Picture: Naweed Hotak
Members of the public rush by the burning lorry. Picture: Naweed Hotak
Members of the public rush by the burning lorry. Picture: Naweed Hotak
Fire crews were eventually able to extinguish the flames after Naweed Hotak stopped filming. Picture: Naweed Hotak
Fire crews were eventually able to extinguish the flames after Naweed Hotak stopped filming. Picture: Naweed Hotak

A Kent Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said crews were called to reports of a lorry on fire at a loading bay in Suffolk Road, Dartford, just after 8pm on Saturday.

Three fire engines attended and crews, wearing breathing apparatus, used hose reel jets to extinguish the flames.

There were no reported injuries and the cause is being treated as suspicious.

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