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Crashing Robots Spark E-Commerce Warehouse Blaze, FT Reports


(AF) A fire at one of the UK’s largest automated e-commerce fulfilment warehouses has been caused by a collision between two pick-and-pack robots, the Financial Times reported.

The online-only supermarket Ocado was forced to halt or delay processing thousands of orders at the site, which has more than 1,000 robots filling shopping bags, the report stated. The London Fire Brigade sent 15 fire engines to tackle the blaze, which also caused 800 staff to evacuate, it added. 

A similar robot fire shuttered another of the forms warehouses in 2019, causing havoc when the pandemic prompted a surge of online orders.    

Mark McCord

Mark McCord is a financial journalist with more than three decades experience writing and editing at global news wires including Bloomberg and AFP, as well as daily newspapers in Hong Kong, Sydney and Melbourne. He has covered some of the biggest breaking news events in recent years including the Enron scandal, the New York terrorist attacks and the Iraq War. He is based in the UK. You can tweet to Mark at @MarkMcC64371550.