Videos shared by witnesses, showed a fire near to London’s Elephant and Castle railway station sending great plumes of black smoke over the capital on Monday afternoon that prompted a large emergency response.
London Fire Brigade said on Twitter that the imagery showed a fire at railway arches near the station. It said that ten fire engines and around 70 firefighters were at the scene, and urged people to stay away and shut their doors and windows.
There was initially no indication that anyone was hurt.
The south London is on the Northern and Bakerloo lines of the London Underground, and also has overground rail connections to other parts of the city and its suburbs.
A huge blaze broke out- with witnesses reporting seeing a ‘fireball explosion’.
The London Fire Brigade (LFB) said the fire has spread across units underneath Elephant and Castle station, which are now “completely alight”.
Four cars and a telephone box are also on fire, the service – which has called around 100 firefighters – said.
Unconfirmed reports said the blaze is understood to have started at an auto repair garage at around 1:45pm on Monday. Pictures and video posted social media show smoke billowing close to the station – visible across the capital.
One dramatic clip appears to show a fireball bursting out of a unit under the station, forcing onlookers to move.
National Rail told commuters that trains between London Blackfriars and Denmark Hill and Herne Hill may be cancelled or delayed because of the fire.
Initially, the company said the disruption could last until 3:30pm, though that projection has now been extended to 8pm.
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Editor, International Fire Buyer
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