Ocado warehouse robots collide, cause fire

Three robots have collided at an Ocado warehouse in Erith, south-east London, leading to a fire, the facility's evacuation and the cancellation of thousands of customer orders. The warehouse is serviced by around 3,500 delivery-packing robots. 

According to the London Fire Brigade, fifteen fire engines and around 100 firefighters were called to extinguish the fire. Ocado put the cost of the fire at GBP 35 million.

The collision is not the first incident involving robots at an Ocado facility. In July 2019, an Ocado robot malfunctioned in its Andover warehouse that resulted in a major fire. 

The Andover warehouse had to re-built at an estimated cost of GBP 110 million.