Woman and child taken to hospital following blaze at south-west London tower block
Around 70 firefighters were called to the block of flats in Battersea last night
Last updated 13th Oct 2021
A woman and a child have been taken to hospital after a fire at a block of flats in south-west London.
The blaze took hold in a flat on the 20th floor of a high-rise on Westbridge Road in Battersea.
"I heard a bang and glass smashing"
Three people left the affected flat while another 50 people left the building before fire crews arrived, the London Fire Brigade (LFB) said.
Flames could be seen from the top of the block as dark plumes of smoke drifted into the sky.
People shared footage and photos of the fire on social media:
LFB sent 70 firefighters to the scene after the blaze was reported at 8.02pm on Tuesday.
It had received 18 calls about the blaze.
Station commander Pete Johnson, who was at the scene, said:
"Crews were faced with a lot of smoke issuing from the top of a block of flats on arrival.
"There was also lots of visible flame which has prompted a high number of calls to our control officers."
Fire crews from Battersea, Fulham, Wandsworth, North Kensington and surrounding fire stations are at the scene.
Student Ishika Deb, 20, who lives in a neighbouring block of flats, said:
"I heard a bang and glass smashing. I went out and saw there was glass on the floor. Then I heard a bang and looked up and saw fire."
She said she heard a couple of bangs then noticed that "ash was coming out".
The London Fire Brigade says the cause of the fire was accidental: