Six die in London blaze

2009-07-04 08:28

London - Six people including a newborn baby died on Friday in a massive fire at a tower block in London, the city's emergency services said.

"There were six fatalities - three adults and three children," a London Fire Brigade spokesperson said after the blaze in Camberwell, south London.

Some 30 people who were in "immediate peril" trapped inside have been rescued, he added. The blaze was under control and there were no reports of people still trapped inside.

Witnesses gave distressing accounts of how those trapped by the fire screamed and pressed their faces up against the windows as they battled to escape the flames and smoke.

The Metropolitan Police said that those who died were a three week old baby, two children aged about six and seven, a woman in her 30s and two other adults.

A further 12 people were taken to hospital, many suffering the effects of smoke inhalation.

At least 100 firefighters were sent to the scene of the fire, which started on the fourth floor of the local authority-owned block and spread to the 11th.

Witnesses spoke of distressing scenes as the fire, which was reported just before 16:30 (15:30 GMT), took hold.

"There were kids screaming, there was all sorts of stuff going on," Rob Atthill told BBC television.

"The people I was with, they climbed on the roof to see what was happening and they could see faces of people in the windows, people were trying to smash windows, it didn't look very good."

Michael Thompson, 17, a resident of the tower block, added: "There was a big bang that sounded like an explosion.

"People were screaming. I heard people shouting: 'Fire, fire'.

"I called 999 (Britain's emergency telephone number) when I saw the flames and they said they were already on their way. I could smell the smoke from inside my flat so I closed the windows.

"This black smoke was pouring out of the windows."

An investigation will now be held into the cause of the fire.

"It is too early to say what led to the fire and police officers are working with the London Fire Brigade investigation team to establish the cause of the fire," the Metropolitan Police said.

London's Ambulance Service said three people died at the scene and three others later in hospital. Uninjured survivors were being taken to an emergency centre set up at a nearby church hall.

The 1960s building contains 108 flats and is owned and managed by the local council, with residents living there on a leasehold or tenant basis.

- AFP