Six Dead In Tower Blaze

Investigators are searching for clues to discover how a blaze started in a block of London flats killing six people, including three children.

The blaze started on the fourth floor but spread as high as the 11th



Police said the victims are still being identified but came from "a number of families".

Three people died in hospital while the bodies of the other three remain inside the tower block in Camberwell.

The victims were a three-week-old baby, a six-year-old, a seven-year-old, two women and an unidentified adult.

Out of a further 12 people who were taken to hospital for, only one - a firefighter - remains there but his condition is not serious, Chief Superintendent Wayne Chance said.

More than 100 firefighters and 18 fire engines battled the blaze, which started on the fourth floor of Lakanal House in Havil Street but quickly spread to the eleventh.

Speaking at the scene, Mr Chance said the cause of the fire was still unknown and the tower block was being treated as a crime scene while an investigation was carried out.



Emergency services at the scene

The fire service said 30 people trapped in the building were rescued in "extremely difficult circumstances".

Paul Glenny, one of the firefighters involved, said: "I've been in the job for 30 years, and I've never seen anything like it.

"The hot weather and the fact that people's windows were open made the fire what it was."

Residents who escaped the blaze were taken to an evacuation centre in nearby Welton Hall, Bushey Road.

Around 150 people were left without accommodation. The majority stayed with family or friends and 20 were given a temporary place to stay by the local council.

Speaking from the centre Nancy Kanu, 28, who lived on the fifth floor of the tower, said: "We saw smoke coming in through the window.

"The stairs were all full of smoke. We were really scared because we couldn't walk. We were crawling through the smoke.

"My sister was there with her three-day-old baby who is now suffering breathing problems and I was with my two kids."

Local MP Harriet Harman told Sky News the fire had been "absolutely shocking" and thanked the emergency services for their professionalism.

But she added: "There will have to be a thorough investigation into what caused this fire and whether the prevention was adequate."

She said people had been "asking questions" about the fire escape routes in the tower block.

Emergency services were called to the scene at 4.20pm on Friday.



The fire spread rapidly

Michael Thompson, 17, who lives in the block, said: "There was a big bang that sounded like an explosion.

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

"I called 999 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."

Southwark councillor Ian Wingfield, who represents Brunswick Park - the ward in which the flats are situated - said there are 108 flats in the block.

Lakanal House was built in the 1960s on the Sceaux Gardens Estate which is owned and managed by the council, with people living there on a leasehold or tenant basis.

Mr Wingfield said: "We hope that we can sort matters out as quickly as possible so that people are put in accommodation to begin with and then hopefully they can go back into the block.

"But we are not going to move people back in there until all the health and safety aspects have been covered."

:: Two helpline numbers have been issued for anyone needing information following the fire, a police number 0300 123 1212 and local authority number 0207 525 5000.

This is terrible news