Dagenham fire: Residents describe escape after homes evacuated from tower block engulfed by flames
Firefighters have rescued 20 people from a burning tower block after it was engulfed in flames.
More than 200 firefighters took part in a “significant search and rescue operation” which involved around 80 people, including children, being evacuated from their homes.
A further 20 people were said to have been rescued by firefighters after what they described as a “significant building failure”.
Speaking on Monday afternoon, London Fire Brigade Assistant Commissioner Patrick Goulbourne added that everyone had been accounted for and the fire was under control.
The block, described as a mixed-use residential and commercial building, was known to have “a number of fire safety issues”, according to the London Fire Brigade, and was covered in “non-compliant” cladding.
Scaffolding surrounding the building was in place to remove the cladding and a fire enforcement notice issued last year highlighted concerns inspectors had at the time.
The scene on Monday morning. Pic: UKNIP
Firefighters tackling the blaze overnight. Pic: UKNIP
Meanwhile, 70 firefighters were sent to a second fire across London, in Blackwall.
Half of a flat and a balcony on the 25th floor of a 45-storey building were burning, producing a large amount of smoke.
‘Major incident’ in Dagenham
Plumes of smoke could be seen rising into the sky in Dagenham as 40 fire engines and 225 firefighters responded overnight and into the morning.
Emergency services were called at around 2.44am and the first crews arrived at the tower block within five minutes.
Four patients were treated at the scene, and two were taken to hospital, the London Ambulance Service said.
The cause of the fire remains unknown. Emergency services had declared a “major incident”, which has since been stood down.
One local said they heard people “screaming” from their home a few hundred yards from the building as it caught fire overnight.
Pic: UKNIP
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Smoke fills the air after tower block fire
‘I saw flames climbing up to our balcony’
Kasia Stantke, a resident of the building for six years, didn’t hear a fire alarm go off.
Instead, she told Sky News’ home and political correspondent Matthew Thompson she was woken up by banging.
“I got out of bed and looked out the window and I saw flames climbing up to our balcony.
“I woke my partner and said there’s a fire it’s spreading quickly.”
They got dressed, grabbed their dog, and fled.
“There was no fire alarm, nothing went off, when we ran out the flats we just saw some neighbours, we looked at each other, and said ‘are you okay?’ and tried to wake up a few others, but no fire alarms.”
Ms Stantke told Sky News she didn’t think she had a flat left to return to
As she tried to knock on doors, Ms Stantke said she “couldn’t hear one neighbour” and added: “I hope they had gone away for the long weekend.”
She added she thought she wouldn’t have a flat to go back to, following the fire.
Mohammed, a sixth-floor resident, told Sky News he also didn’t hear a fire alarm go off and left the building only with the clothes on his back.
‘My daughter saved our lives’
One first-floor resident was absent at the time of the fire – he said his daughter falling asleep at his friend’s barbecue saved their lives as it meant he decided to stay the night, and not return home.
“I was at my friend’s house, I got a call saying my block was on fire,” Drilon Nezaj told Sky News.
He said his flat was located above the nursery in the building, where he was told the fire broke out.
Drilon Nezaj and his young daughter
He continued: “I got invited to my friend’s barbecue yesterday, I didn’t want to go but he said ‘please please please’, so I said let’s go.”
He brought his 17-month-old daughter along and when she fell asleep, he decided to stay the night so he didn’t have to wake her up.
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‘I saw flames climbing up our balcony’
“So thank god, she saved our life. You couldn’t have gotten out from that fire from what I saw, no chance,” he added.
‘We have no clue what happened’
Dinesh Raj’s daughter was at a sleepover in the building with a friend’s family when the blaze broke out.
Speaking to Sky News, Mr Raj said he got a call at around 3am and drove over and picked his daughter and friends up.
Dinesh Raj, speaking to Sky News
“They had a six-month baby as well, so they managed to grab the baby and my daughter and get out of the building,” he said.
He added: “I think the majority [of residents] managed to step out before the fire started spreading.
“But everything they have is back in the building and we have no clue what happened.”
Pic: UKNIP
A full evacuation
London Fire Commissioner Andy Roe said: “I am immensely grateful to the crews and officers who have operated in the most dangerous conditions to both rescue people and bring the incident under control despite being faced with a significant building failure.”
He added that drones and 64-metre turntable ladders were being used to tackle the fire.
A rest centre has been set up in the Becontree Heath Leisure Centre and residents in the surrounding area were advised to keep their windows closed due to smoke.
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Home Secretary Yvette Cooper issued a statement following the fire.
She said: “My thoughts are with all those affected by the major fire incident in Dagenham.”
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said he was in close contact with the fire brigade, who he praised for acting “swiftly”.
He added: “I urge local residents to follow LFB’s advice to keep windows and doors closed and for people to avoid the area where possible.”
A fire enforcement notice was issued regarding the building in April 2023.
Among the five issues highlighted was a “failure to provide and/or maintain adequate and clearly indicated emergency routes and exits”.
It isn’t clear whether it was complied with.
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Pic: UKNIP
Smoke continued to billow into the sky even as the fire was slowly brought under control
The cladding around the tower block is understood to be high pressure laminate (HPL) panels.
It was deemed non-compliant in July 2019 and is a compressed wood fibre which releases heat 25 times faster and burns 115 times hotter than non-combustible products, according to a study by the University of Central Lancashire, published in January 2019.
A teenage girl who was killed after getting out of a police car on the M5 in Somerset has been named.
Tamzin Hall, 17 and from Wellington, was hit by a vehicle that was travelling southbound between junction 24 for Bridgwater and junction 25 for Taunton shortly after 11pm on Monday.
She had exited a police vehicle that had stopped on the northbound side of the motorway while transporting her.
A mandatory referral was made to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which is now carrying out its own investigation into what happened.
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Avon and Somerset Police said: “Our thoughts and sympathies go out to Tamzin’s family for their devastating loss.
“A specially-trained family liaison officer remains in contact with them to keep them updated and to provide support.
“The family have asked for privacy at this difficult time.”
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The police watchdog, the IOPC, has been asked to investigate.
In a statement, director David Ford, said: “This was a truly tragic incident and my thoughts are with Tamzin’s family and friends and everyone affected by the events of that evening.
“We are contacting her family to express our sympathies, explain our role, and set out how our investigation will progress. We will keep them fully updated as our investigation continues.”
Paramedics attended the motorway within minutes of the girl being hit but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
The motorway was closed in both directions while investigations took place. It was fully reopened shortly after 11am on Tuesday, Nationals Highways said.
A survivors group advocating for women allegedly assaulted by Mohamed al Fayed has said it is “grateful another abuser has been unmasked”, after allegations his brother Salah also participated in the abuse.
Justice for Harrods Survivors says it has “credible evidence” suggesting the sexual abuse allegedly perpetrated at Harrods and the billionaire’s properties “was not limited to Mr al Fayed himself”.
The group’s statement comes after three women told BBC News they were sexually assaulted by al Fayed’s brother, Salah.
One woman said she was raped by Mohamed al Fayed while working at Harrods.
Helen, who has waived her right to anonymity, said she then took a job working for his brother as an escape. She alleges she was drugged and sexually assaulted while working at Salah’s home on Park Lane, London.
Two other women have told the BBC they were taken to Monaco and the South of France, where Salah sexually abused them.
Mohamed al Fayed. Pic: AP
The Justice for Harrod Survivors representatives said: “We are proud to support the survivors of Salah Fayed’s abuse and are committed to achieving justice for them, no matter what it takes.”
The group added it “looks forward to the others on whom we have credible evidence – whether abusers themselves or enablers facilitating that abuse – being exposed in due course”.
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Salah was one of the three Fayed brothers who co-owned Harrods.
The business, which was sold to Qatar Holdings when Mohamed al Fayed retired in 2010, has said it “supports the bravery of these women in coming forward”.
A statement issued by the famous store on Thursday evening continued: “We encourage these survivors to come forward and make their claims to the Harrods scheme, where they can apply for compensation, as well as support from a counselling perspective and through an independent survivor advocate.
“We also hope that they are looking at every appropriate avenue to them in their pursuit of justice, whether that be Harrods, the police or the Fayed family and estate.”
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Bianca Gascoigne speaks about Al Fayed abuse
The Justice for Harrods Survivors group previously said more than 400 people had contacted them regarding accusations about Mohamed al Fayed, who died last year.
One of those alleged to have been abused is Bianca Gascoigne, the daughter of former England player Paul.
Speaking to Sky News in October, Gascoigne said she was groomed and sexually assaulted by al Fayed when she worked at Harrods as a teenager.
UK
Wes Streeting ‘crossed the line’ by opposing assisted dying in public, says Labour peer Harriet Harman
Wes Streeting “crossed the line” by opposing assisted dying in public and the argument shouldn’t “come down to resources”, a Labour peer has said.
Speaking on Sky News’ Electoral Dysfunction podcast, Baroness Harriet Harman criticised the health secretary for revealing how he is going to vote on the matter when it comes before parliament later this month.
MPs are being given a free vote, meaning they can side with their conscience and not party lines, so the government is supposed to be staying neutral.
But Mr Streeting has made clear he will vote against legalising assisted dying, citing concerns end-of-life care is not good enough for people to make an informed choice, and that some could feel pressured into the decision to save the NHS money.
He has also ordered a review into the potential costs of changing the law, warning it could come at the expense of other NHS services if implemented.
Baroness Harman said Mr Streeting has “crossed the line in two ways”.
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“He should not have said how he was going to vote, because that breaches neutrality and sends a signal,” she said.
“And secondly… he’s said the problem is that it will cost money to bring in an assisted dying measure, and therefore he will have to cut other services.
“But paradoxically, he also said it would be a slippery slope because people will be forced to bring about their own death in order to save the NHS money. Well, it can’t be doing both things.
“It can’t be both costing the NHS money and saving the NHS money.”
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Review into assisted dying costs
Baroness Harman said the argument “should not come down to resources” as it is a “huge moral issue” affecting “only a tiny number of people”.
She added that people should not mistake Mr Streeting for being “a kind of proxy for Keir Starmer”.
“The government is genuinely neutral and all of those backbenchers, they can vote whichever way they want,” she added.
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Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has previously expressed support for assisted dying, but it is not clear how he intends to vote on the issue or if he will make his decision public ahead of time.
The cabinet has varying views on the topic, with the likes of Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood siding with Mr Streeting in her opposition but Energy Secretary Ed Miliband being for it.
Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband is said to support the bill. Pic: Reuters
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has concerns. Pic: Reuters
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The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is being championed by Labour backbencher Kim Leadbeater, who wants to give people with six months left to live the choice to end their lives.
Under her proposals, two independent doctors must confirm a patient is eligible for assisted dying and a High Court judge must give their approval.
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Labour MP Kim Leadbeater discusses End of Life Bill
The bill will also include punishments of up to 14 years in prison for those who break the law, including coercing someone into ending their own life.
MPs will debate and vote on the legislation on 29 November, in what will be the first Commons vote on assisted dying since 2015, when the proposal was defeated.
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