Eight police officers among 11 taken to hospital after fire at five-storey house

South Kensington fire

Eight police officers were among the 11 people taken to hospital after a fire broke out at a five-storey terraced house in London.

Emergency services were called to the scene in South Kensington just after midnight on Friday, where the officers were among those treated for smoke inhalation and taken to hospital.

The London Fire Brigade (LFB) said officers from the Metropolitan Police were the first to arrive at the incident and had inhaled smoke during their efforts to rescue residents before the fire service took over.

All eight police officers have now been discharged.

More than 100 out of the 160 people who were evacuated from surrounding buildings after the blaze broke out in Emperor’s Gate have now returned to their homes.

LFB said at the height of the incident, 15 fire engines and around 100 firefighters attended the blaze.

Two people were rescued from a flat on the second floor using a 13.5-metre ladder, a further two were rescued from the fourth floor, and one person was helped from a first-floor flat.

The first and second floors of the building were extensively damaged and the ground floor was partly damaged, the fire service said.

Singh Prajyot, 24, who works in hospitality and was staying in a nearby hostel, described hearing sirens and seeing the blaze at around 12.30am.

Mr Prajyot said: “Two buildings next to us were on fire and the fire spread to the next one or two and then onto the roof of our building.

“After an hour and a half we were really scared because we couldn’t go inside our building and get our stuff.

“We didn’t have anything on us. Some people didn’t even have jackets on so it was really difficult.”

Mr Prajyot was evacuated to a nearby hotel where he spent the remainder of the night.

He said: “It took a while as they were prioritising older people and children first which makes sense so we got a room at around 8.30 in the morning.”

“No one slept last night,” he added.

Ben King, brigade borough commander for Kensington and Chelsea, said it was currently “too early” to say what caused the fire.

He added: “The next stage for us is restoring the area to normality as quickly as possible and making sure that our colleagues from fire investigations work with the Metropolitan Police to identify the cause as quickly as possible.”

Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea council leader Elizabeth Campbell thanked the emergency services and council staff who were supporting residents.

Speaking at the Millennium Gloucester Hotel, where many residents had been evacuated to, Ms Campbell said: “Our staff have been fantastic in making sure even basic things like getting shoes for people and clothes so they have something to wear.

“Residents can have breakfast and lunch and stay here and for our foreign nationals we will look after them in hotels over the weekend just so they can gather themselves together.”

Ms Campbell described what residents had been through as “completely traumatic” adding that “they just need time now to sit here, breathe and have a hot meal”.

The council is working with the fire service to ensure residents are taken back to their properties “as soon as practically possible”, Mr King said.

LFB has reduced its presence at the incident and will remain at the scene for the rest of Friday.

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