Eleven people have been taken to hospital after a fire broke out at a five-storey building in London.
About 160 people were evacuated from Emperor's Gate, in South Kensington, after the fire spread from a ground-floor flat just after midnight. London Fire Brigade (LFB) said the blaze, which had spread to the roof of the building, was now under control.
It said the people taken to hospital were treated for the effects of smoke inhalation.
‘Incredibly challenging'
Fifteen fire engines and about 100 firefighters arrived at the scene to find half of the ground floor of the building was alight, LFB said. Two people were rescued from a second-floor flat, one person was helped from a first-floor flat and another two were rescued from a flat on the fourth floor.
Borough commander Ben King said the blaze had started at 00:31 GMT and described it as “incredibly challenging”.
“Our crews have acted with, as you would expect and as London rightfully deserves, utmost professionalism as they have conducted a number of rescues,” he said.
The flames became “very significant” and it was a “dynamic incident” for the service to deal with, Mr King explained. Station commander Steve Collins added that crews worked extremely hard to stop the fire spreading to adjacent buildings.
At about 05:30, the fire service said the blaze had been brought under control. Mr King said the roof of the building was “significantly damaged” and the ground floor and an adjoining property had suffered damage too.
The service said some residents had been let back into their homes. The cause of the fire is not yet known and the service said it would remain at the scene until at least Friday afternoon.
Arnis Altens, who was one of the people evacuated, described the fire as “pretty scary”. The 58-year-old said he saw a “small fire” on the ground floor, which people were trying to put out using extinguishers.
“They broke the window and after that the fire spread rapidly… the blaze came out of the window,” Mr Altens explained.
“In 14 minutes the whole building was ablaze,” he added.
— CutC by bbc.com
