Baby among 6 dead in London flats fire
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A child, aged about six, a woman and another adult died at the flats. (AFP Image: stringer)
A three-week-old baby and two children are among six people who were killed when a fire tore through a 12-storey block of flats in south-east London.
The blaze spread rapidly after breaking out on the fourth floor of the flats on the Sceaux Gardens Estate in Camberwell, the London Fire Brigade said.
Eighteen fire engines were sent to the scene and more than 100 firefighters tackled the inferno.
A brigade spokesman said the blaze swept up to the 11th floor and 30 people had to be rescued.
Police said the baby, a seven-year-old child and a woman died in hospital.
A child, aged about six, a woman and another adult died at the flats.
London ambulance spokesman Paul Woodrow told British television that 18 people, including 11 children, had been taken to hospital. Some were in a serious condition.
The fire brigade said that despite extremely difficult conditions, firefighters had rescued everyone else who had been inside and the fire had been brought under control.
"The building is still being searched, but we are confident there won't be any more people involved. We're doing a systematic floor-by-floor search," he said.
It was too soon to say what caused the fire, he added.
Local Labour MP Harriet Harmon went to visit survivors at the scene.
"There have been quite a number of fatalities; it's just absolutely tragic - absolutely tragic," she said.
"We'll have to ensure that there are full investigations.
"But at the moment we just need to support and thank the emergency services, and to talk to the people that have been evacuated."
Witness George Maddocks said he had seen a room of one of the council-run flats engulfed by flames before windows began to shatter.
"The height may have been something of a problem," he told BBC TV, adding that much of the building was charred and blackened.
The local council said it was working to look after the residents affected.
- Reuters
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