A WOMAN has been pulled from the flat above a burning launderette in Croydon, after the building was completely destroyed by a fire.
Firefighters in South London managed to rescue a woman who was trapped in a flat above a burning Launderette after it was set ablaze last night. Emergency services rushed to a raging fire in London after an explosion was heard.
Eyewitnesses reported hearing people screaming and a woman being “pulled from the building”.
The Met Police have confirmed emergency services are in attendance at a commercial property in High Street, Croydon.
Police attended the scene at 12:58am.
The London Fire Brigade managed to rescue a woman who was stuck in a first floor flat at the rear of the building.
Videos taken by locals show the fire raging in full force as fire engines surround the scene.
One onlooker tweeted: “Massive #fire over road in #croydon …girl pulled from building… people screaming… very scary… hope nobody was hurt!
@BBCNews”
Another tweet claims people were throwing stones in a bid to wake up residents living by the burning building.
According to social media reports, the building believed to be on fire is a dry cleaners.
One witness said: “Looks like the fire is under control now.
“Seems everyone was evacuated with a couple of people being treated in the aftermath.
“Not sure what caused the explosion, but it came from a shop that was being renovated.”
Police arriving at the scene have placed road closures around the area as fire fighters deal with the incident.
Croydon Metropolitan Police tweeted: “Police on scene with@LondonFire & @Ldn_Ambulance following report at 0058hrs of fire/ explosion at residential block in High St, junction West St #Croydon.
“Road closures in place.
“Await news re any injuries & updates will be issued in due course.”
Ben Kavanagh said: “The emergency services were amazing as youd expect… swift, efficient… immediately helped those in need and dispersed the crowd and put the fire out…”
Videos circulating on social media show locals rushing away from the scene of the large fire.
Ambulances, fire engines and police officers surrounded the High Street as roads close.
In a statement, London Fire Brigade said: “Firefighters tackled a severe blaze in a launderette with flats above on Croydon High Street.
“Firefighters rescued one woman at the rear via a ladder pitched against the first floor flat roof.
She was treated at the scene by London Ambulance Service crews.
“A further two adults and one child left the property before firefighters arrived.
“The fire destroyed the ground floor shop. The fire also damaged parts of the first and second floor.”
Fire crews were called just before 1am and managed to bring the blaze under control by 2.35am.
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