Heathrow Airport
Police have been called to deal with an incident at London Heathrow Airport. Getty

KEY POINTS

  • Passengers on at least one plane were told to disembark after boarding their flight.
  • Police have confirmed an airport worker has died following the incident

A man has died at London Heathrow Airport after two vehicles collided on the airfield early on Wednesday morning (14 February).

The victim, who was in his 40s, was taken to a West London hospital with serious injuries, where he was pronounced dead.

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The Metropolitan Police said the victim's next of kin had been informed and a formal identification awaited, while no arrests had been made.

"One male [no further information], is believed to have sustained a broken shoulder; his injuries are not life-threatening or life-changing," the police said in a statement.

"Another male, aged in his 40s, was taken to a West London hospital with serious injuries. He has since died."

Emergency services rushed to the scene of the incident, which happened at Terminal 5 at about 8am, while some passengers were evacuated from planes and the police were called to the scene to investigate what Britain's largest airport described as "a serious accident".

A Heathrow spokesperson said: "We are dealing with a serious accident involving two vehicles on the airfield. We are working closely with the emergency services and updates will follow. The airfield remains open and we will work to minimise disruption to our passengers' journeys."

Some passengers reported boarding their flight as normal before being told to disembark.

"I was boarding through B48 at around 6:40am; there was a visible incident of some kind of a stand outside the window by the boarding gate," Alastair MacLeod was quoted as saying by the Mirror.

"I spoke to the BA staff on the desk who were also curious but uninformed. We boarded, waited, and then the captain gave a series of apologies and further delay announcements. At around 8:55 we all deplaned and I'm now back in the terminal waiting to see what happens next."

The airport said that an investigation was underway following an incident on the airfield involving two members of staff, adding it was working with the police.

"This incident didn't involve any passengers and is not expected to cause any impact on journeys today," it added.

A BA spokesman explained the airline had to delay some of its flights earlier this morning and was monitoring the situation.

"We have apologised to customers for the delay to a small number of our flights this morning, following an incident involving two operational vehicles at the airport," he said.

"We are doing all we can to ensure they will be able to depart as soon as possible."