Dagenham fire: Residents describe escape after homes evacuated from tower block engulfed by flames

Published

1 year ago

August 26, 2024

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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.

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.

Eyewitness: The time for answers will come, but help is more urgent

By Matthew Thompson, home and political correspondent, reporting from Dagenham for Sky News

As we arrived first thing this morning, the fire was smouldering, but it was a mere shadow of the inferno that had engulfed the building a few hours before.

Many residents fled with nothing more than the clothes on their backs.

Those who have nowhere else to go have been moved to a leisure centre a mile or so away.

There, amid a mass of water bottles, foil blankets and plastic plates, families are huddled, shell-shocked, and facing an uncertain future.

Drilon Nezaj, carrying his 17-month-old daughter in his arms, told me his flat was directly above the source of the fire.

He’d been at a friend’s house for dinner when the baby had fallen asleep, so they decided to stay the night. “She saved our lives,” he said.

Another woman, Kasia, said she awoke in the night to “flames climbing up to our balcony”.

She and her partner got out, with their dog. But fighting back tears, she told me her flat is “all gone. The only thing I can think of is we’re safe. The rest can be replaced. We got out, luckily.”

The building itself has known fire safety issues.

It was in the process of having dangerous flammable cladding removed when the fire broke out.

There may well be a time for recriminations.

But for now, there are scores of people, many with young children, who need help, and somewhere to sleep.

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.

‘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.”

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.

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.

“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.

“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.”

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.

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.

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.

UK

Penny Lancaster says she felt ‘belittled’ by ex-MasterChef host Gregg Wallace

Published

2 hours ago

September 29, 2025

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Penny Lancaster says she felt 'belittled' by ex-MasterChef host Gregg Wallace

Model Penny Lancaster has said she “felt ashamed and belittled” by how former MasterChef host Gregg Wallace treated her on the TV show.

Lancaster, who is also a TV personality, and is married to singer Rod Stewart, told Sky News’ The UK Tonight with Sarah-Jane Mee programme that she also felt let down by MasterChef’s production company Banijay UK.

“I didn’t feel like I was supported in that moment, I felt ashamed and belittled by the way Greg Wallace had treated me but equally I felt disappointed that the production company hadn’t come to my rescue,” Lancaster, 54 and a MasterChef contestant in 2021, said.

“There is a long way to go, but just by people coming forward and being honest about their experiences I think will help in the long term.”

At the end of July, Wallace, 60, apologised after a report commissioned by Banijay UK, and carried out by law firm Lewis Silkin, found 45 out of 83 allegations against him were substantiated.

Sir Rod Stewart criticised Wallace on Instagram in November 2024 and claimed he “humiliated” his wife when she was on the show.

He wrote: “Good riddance Wallace… You humiliated my wife when she was on the show, but you had that bit cut out didn’t you?

“You’re a tubby, bald-headed, ill-mannered bully.”

Sky News has approached Wallace for comment.

He has previously apologised to people he has hurt, saying in July that he knows he has said things that have offended people. He has denied a specific allegation of unwanted touching.

The BBC referred Sky News to their statement from July, in which the corporation said: “Although the full extent of these issues were not known at the relevant time, opportunities were missed to address this behaviour – both by the production companies running MasterChef and the BBC. We accept more could and should have been done sooner.

“We want to thank all those who took part in the investigation, including those who first raised concerns directly with the BBC in November last year. We apologise to everyone who has been impacted by Mr Wallace’s behaviour.”

Banijay UK, the producers of MasterChef, told Sky News: “We are extremely sorry to anyone who has been impacted by any inappropriate behaviour by Gregg Wallace whilst working on our shows and felt unable to speak up at the time or that their complaint was not adequately addressed.

“Ways of reporting concerns whilst working on our productions, protocols around behaviour and training for both cast and crew, have improved exponentially in recent years and we constantly review welfare procedures across our productions to ensure that they are as robust as they can be.”

UK

London mayor Sadiq Khan hits out at ‘misinformation’ as new figures show fall in crimes

Published

2 hours ago

September 29, 2025

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London mayor Sadiq Khan hits out at 'misinformation' as new figures show fall in crimes

Sadiq Khan has hit back at politicians “spreading misinformation” about safety in London as new data shows the number of violent crimes leading to injury has fallen in every borough over the past year.

Figures from the mayor’s office for policing and crime compare the 12 months ending in August 2025 with the previous 12 months – and show there were 8,749 fewer crimes which resulted in someone being hurt, a drop of nearly 12%.

The borough of Havering in east London recorded the largest drop (16.3%) followed by Enfield in north London (16.1%).

The smallest decreases were in Greenwich (4.3%) and Kensington and Chelsea (4.6%).

Sir Sadiq said: “We’ve seen a number of politicians here and across the globe talking down London and spreading misinformation about crime and safety in the capital.

“The evidence is clear, our approach to tackling crime and its complex causes works. It’s driving down violence right across the capital.”

His comments come after Donald Trump reignited his feud with Sir Sadiq earlier this month by accusing him of doing a “terrible job” and claiming “crime in London is through the roof”.

The US president also hit out at the mayor in a speech at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, where he also made the outlandish claim that London “wants Sharia law” – something there is no evidence for.

Asked about the attacks, Sir Sadiq said: “I think President Trump has shown he is racist, he is sexist, he is misogynistic, and he is Islamophobic.”

He added that the public would be “wondering what it is about this Muslim mayor who leads a liberal, multicultural, progressive, successful city that means I appear to be living rent-free inside Donald Trump’s head”.

According to the mayor’s office, overall homicides in London are at a 10-year low, and the city’s rate is lower than in Berlin, Brussels, Madrid, Paris and all major US cities.

The rate of homicide was down by 17% in the 12-month period to June this year compared with the 12-month period to May 2016, it previously said.

Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Rachel Williams said: “We’re targeting the most dangerous individuals, disrupting criminal networks, and investing in prevention to protect those most at risk.

“That’s why fewer people are being hurt, fewer lives are being lost, and London is becoming a safer city.”

The Conservatives rejected the suggestion that London is safer.

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: “Under this Labour mayor, criminals know the odds are stacked in their favour.

“Only one in 20 robberies is solved, fewer offenders are being jailed, and more than a thousand police officers have been cut from the Metropolitan Police, with Sir Mark Rowley warning of further losses this year.

“Londoners don’t feel safer because London isn’t safer.”

UK

Murder investigation under way after north London stabbing

Published

2 hours ago

September 29, 2025

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Murder investigation under way after north London stabbing

A murder investigation is under way after a fatal stabbing in north London.

The Metropolitan Police said officers and the London Ambulance Service responded to reports of stabbing in Camden Gardens, NW1, after being called at 3.29pm on Saturday.

A 44-year-old man was treated at the scene for stab wounds before being taken to hospital, where he died.

Police are awaiting formal identification and a special post-mortem will take place, the force said.

Borough Commander Jason Sewart, who leads policing in Camden, said: “My team are working at pace to establish the full circumstances that led to this man’s tragic death in Camden Gardens.

“Our thoughts remain with the victim’s family and friends at this very difficult time. They continue to be supported by specialist officers.”

There will be increased patrols in the area as enquiries are made, he added. Anyone who many have information or CCTV footage is being asked to contact police.