A building in London’s West End is at the centre of a large blaze which 75 firefighters are trying to extinguish..
The roof of a 10-storey
building housing a hotel and flats being refurbished on the Strand is ablaze, producing thick black smoke rising above the West End skyline.
The
fire service was alerted just after 11am , and 15 fire
engines are tackling the blaze. It said the cause of the fire was not
known at this stage.
The A4 in Aldwych is closed and there are traffic delays on Kingsway, Waterloo Bridge and Strand itself.
A London Ambulance spokesman told the media: ‘We were called at 11.32am today (14 June) to reports of a fire on Strand, WC2.
‘We dispatched an ambulance crew, a single responder in a car, a duty manager and five hazardous area response team units.
‘Our staff are currently standing by on the scene. There are no reports of any patients.’
Onlookers ahve been reporting the scene on Twitter.
@ashleycecil wrote: “Bldg next to the Courtauld is on fire & I’m on the inside of the ropped off area. Just another day in London.”
Helen Fitzhugh wrote:“looks like it’s coming from near the BT Tower – can see the flames from our office behind the Oxo tower.”
