Six people, including a three-week-old baby, have died in a blaze in Camberwell PAUL WOOD

Prev

• 
• 
• 
• 

Next

View gallery

THE Camberwell tower block fire that killed six people is being treated as suspicious by police.

Three children including a three-week-old baby were among the dead in the fire at the 12-storey Lakanal House, in the Sceaux Gardens Estate, south London.

About 30 people were rescued from the building as more than 100 firefighters fought the blaze, which began in a fourth-floor flat at about 4.20pm on Friday.

The fire spread rapidly to the 11th floor, according to Chief Superintendent Wayne Chance of the Metropolitan Police.

A six-year-old child and two adults were found dead at the scene, while the baby, a child of seven, and an adult woman were pronounced dead later in hospital. They have not been identified.

A further 12 people were taken to hospital. Eleven people have been released and a firefighter remains in hospital, but his condition is not thought to be serious.

Local MP Harriet Harman said people were asking questions about the fire escape routes at the flats.

Harman, also the Labour Party’s deputy leader, met families who escaped the blaze and said how she was “struck by how calm and immensely brave people were”.

But she also added: "There will have to be a thorough investigation into what caused this fire and whether the prevention was adequate.

"There are many blocks with one central stairwell and questions will have to be asked about what happens when a fire breaks out."

Several residents said the complicated layout of the flats made the evacuation difficult while onlookers described seeing those trapped inside screaming for help.

Chief Supt Chance said the bodies of three of those killed remain inside the block, which is being treated as a crime scene until the cause of the fire is determined.

He later said: “Officers are dealing with a large and complex scene. The investigation is likely to take some time."

Southwark Council leader Nick Stanton said it was likely to be "days, if not weeks" before residents could return to their homes after the "ghastly" incident.

Eyewitness Carol Cooper, 38, who lives on the seventh floor, described "seeing people and children waving for help".

She said: "Everyone was here. But it took too long for them to get in there and do something. It just seemed like it took too long.

"I think that's because it's just like a maze in there."

She said that the tenants had called for the block to be demolished three years ago, but had been told it was a listed building, one of the earliest council houses in south-east London, and could not be knocked down.

Instead, the council fitted new windows and electrical cabling.

One woman, who did not want to be named, described the tower block as a "death trap" which should have been torn down years ago.

Ed Hammond, 37, an accountant who lives on the seventh floor, agreed that the flats were "death traps".

"If the fire is in the central area, you would virtually have nowhere to go," he said.

"I hate it. It's the safety, it's just not right."

Zahera Chaudry, 21, whose sister was in a first-floor flat when the blaze broke out, said: "These buildings should have been torn down years ago."

Her sister, Jasmine, said her first warning of the fire was when smoke came into her living room yesterday afternoon and she was forced to flee with her three children.

"I have always said that these buildings should have come down. Now look what's happened."