Video given to Sky News shows terrified residents at a tower block on fire in east London appearing to have their escape blocked by a locked gate.
More than 80 people were evacuated and two taken to hospital after the fire broke out in the building in Dagenham in the early hours of Monday morning.
A mother-of-two told Sky News earlier this week the escape was shut – and footage from within the building shows a fire burning as someone shouts “open the f*****g gate”.
“They were fully aware of the fire safety issues: how the building’s fire alarm system failed to go off, denying us the critical warning we needed,” a spokesperson for the residents said.
“The fire escape route which should have been our lifeline was padlocked shut… the multiple layers of management from landlords to agencies utterly failed to protect us.”
Residents claim they had raised concerns about fire safety measures in place and say the process of removing the cladding from their building had been delayed.
Fire crews on the scene saw “burning cladding falling from the building”, according to the Fire Brigades Union general secretary Matt Wrack.
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It comes as the London Fire Brigade acknowledged there are known issues around London, with more than 1,000 buildings needing urgent remedial work.
‘Dog saved my life’
Some residents believe they’re lucky to be alive.
“The dog saved my life. It started barking. No alarm in this building. Nothing. If the dog hadn’t started barking I’d be dying,” one resident called Jlek told Sky News.
Dagenham Council said they will continue to support residents and have provided emergency housing.
Read more:
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Tower block was in the middle of having cladding replaced
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“We will continue to press Block Management UK Ltd to meet their obligations to residents. We will also look to recover costs from responsible parties,” a spokesperson added.
Block Management, which manages the building, has not responded to a request for comment.
