London hotel fire forces evacuation
Mandarin Oriental blaze also closed part of busy Knightsbridge station
LONDON— More than 100 firefighters tackled a blaze at a luxury hotel in central London that produced thick black smoke visible for kilometres around and required people inside the building to evacuate Wednesday.
London Fire Brigade said it was called to the12-storey Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park hotel just before 4 p.m. Less than an hour later, 20 engines and 120 firefighters were at the scene, and much less smoke was billowing from the top of the hotel.
Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus searched the structure to see if anyone was still inside, the fire brigade said. The London Ambulance Service said it didn’t handle any injuries.
The cause of the fire was not yet known. It was thought to have spread from a part of the facade that supports vegetation and plants to several floors of the hotel before it was extinguished, the fire brigade said.
One witness said labourers had been working earlier on the roof of the 116-year-old hotel, which recently underwent extensive renovations. The 250 hotel employees evacuated to nearby Hyde Park were given bottles of water as they waited for instructions. The fire service said 36 guests were also evacuated.
The road in front of the fivestar hotel in London’s ritzy Knightsbridge neighbourhood was closed, causing rush-hour traffic chaos in the area.
Parts of the busy Knightsbridge Underground station also were closed as a precaution.
The ornate Edwardian building near Hyde Park opened as a hotel in 1902. It has 181 bedrooms and suites, and is located near Harrods, an iconic department store.