More than 125 firefighters were mobilized on Monday to fight a fire that broke out in a tower block in central London, near the City’s business district, the city’s mayor said.
The tower, which includes apartments and offices, was evacuated as flames were visible from the street and thick black smoke billowed into the sky.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said 20 fire trucks and more than 125 firefighters were deployed to the scene to try to control the blaze, which started on the 17th floor.
Mr Khan has asked Londoners to avoid the area, and surrounding streets have been blocked off.
There were no immediate reports of casualties and the cause of the fire was also not specified.
In June 2017, the fire at Grenfell Tower in west London killed 71 people as well as a stillborn baby after the 24-storey building burst into flames like a torch, the fire starting from a faulty freezer spreading at high speed through the cladding on the facade.