Dagenham fire: Couple’s wedding ‘turned to dust’ after blaze erupted in London tower block
A couple said their lives and wedding have “turned to dust” after a fire engulfed a multi-storey building in Dagenham.
Lukasz Kurek and Agnieszka Uliasz, who were getting ready to marry in September, lived in a flat in the tower on Freshwater Road, east London.
More than 80 people were evacuated from the building after it caught fire just before 3am on Monday. The couple said they only had time to get their phones and dog before running to safety.
“The worst thing is that we were supposed to have our wedding in three weeks, that was meant to be the best day of our lives,” Mr Kurek told Sky News.
“It’s turned into dust and nothing because of that fire that has occurred. We are devastated.
“We are in dead end. We’ve got no money, nowhere to sleep, nothing, nowhere.”
Ms Uliasz said their documents and passports were left behind, and said she was meant to fly to Poland on Saturday. Her wedding dress, which cost £2,500, was also lost in the fire.
Agnieszka Uliasz in her wedding dress
The lorry driver added that “there was smoke everywhere” as they left their flat. “We couldn’t breathe when we were coming out of the building,” he said.
“You don’t know how advanced the fire is when someone comes into your flat and tells you ‘oh, there is a fire, we got to go’.
“We didn’t know where the fire was, we only saw the smoke.”
He then told Sky News: “We are happy we are still alive, but our plans are ruined totally.”
Read more:
Dagenham tower block was having cladding replaced
Mum in blaze said fire gate had been ‘padlocked shut’
Pic: UKNIP
London Fire Brigade (LFB) said the blaze engulfed the whole building, including scaffolding surrounding the property and the roof.
More than 200 firefighters took part in what was called a “significant search and rescue operation”, and managed to save a further 20 people from the burning tower block.
Speaking on Tuesday afternoon, LFB commissioner Andy Roe Goulbourne said everyone had been accounted for and the fire was under control.
He told reporters at a press conference that the brigade was aware “there were known safety issues” with the building, and added fire enforcement action to carry out cladding replacement was started in 2023.
The commissioner also offered his “sincerest sympathies” to the residents of the tower block, who suffered what he described as “the most traumatic experience”, before adding: “We will be here for many days to make sure this site is left as safe as it possibly can be.”
London Fire Brigade Fire Commissioner Andy Roe, at the scene in Dagenham.
Pic: PA
A firefighter and a fire safety officer looking at the scene in Dagenham, London.
Pic PA
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, who visited the site of the blaze, also said the damage was “horrific” and praised how “the community and the first responders, the council, and all of the emergency services came together”.
She said: “You can see the level of damage that’s happened to the building, and I’m incredibly grateful for those that responded and managed to make sure that everybody was out of that building safely.”
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The fire service previously said the block, described as a mixed-use residential and commercial building, 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.
An investigation into the fire is under way and will examine what role, if any, the cladding played.
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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