An explosion that caused chaos outside a halls of residence while terrified students looked on has been captured on video.

Witnesses describe two teenagers setting fire to bins at the London Metropolitan University’s Arcade building, in Holloway Road, in the early hours of February 24 before a fireball erupted causing onlookers to scream in shock.

Kyle Carlisle, 21, who lives in the halls, said, “I watched the two guys set it on fire. They set fire to three large waste bins in the car park, which quickly exploded while students were trying to put it out.”

Alex Reguig, 19, who witnessed the fire, said: “We were standing right next to it and it just blew, we had to call the fire brigade as we couldn’t risk putting ourselves in danger. The smoke was also going into windows where people were asleep.”

Firefighters from Holloway rushed to the scene and had the blaze under control by about 1.30pm.