A huge fire broke out at a block of flats in East London this morning, with ten fire engines and 70 firefighters racing to the scene.
Flames were seen coming out of an apartment at the residential block on Queens Road West in Plaistow shortly after 8am, sending billows of smoke into the air.
The London Fire Brigade said the fire started in a flat on the tenth floor in a block of 15, and the ‘balcony and flat interior are currently alight’.
Three men managed to flee the burning flat before the emergency services arrived and are being treated at the scene.
Around 30 people inside the block of flats were evacuated and the cause of the blaze is still unknown.
The brigade was called 30 times with the first report coming in at 8am, and the blaze was under control an hour later.
A London Fire Brigade spokesman said: ‘Ten fire engines and around 70 firefighters are responding to a fire at a residential block on Queens Road West in Plaistow.
‘Traffic in the area will be impacted as crews respond.
‘The fire is located in a 10th floor flat, in a block of 15 floors, and the balcony and flat interior are currently alight.
‘Three men left the flat before the Brigade arrived, and are being treated on scene by the London Ambulance Service. Around 30 people have been evacuated by the building.
‘The Brigade’s Control Officers have taken over 30 calls reporting the fire, with the first received at 0802. Firefighters from East Ham, Plaistow, Stratford and surrounding fire stations are currently at the scene.
‘The cause of the fire is not yet known.’
One witness took a photo of the fire from the Carter Road bridge nearby, tweeting: ‘Oi this is mad them blocks in Plaistow’ while another person commented ‘that is terrible’.