British police today named five of the six victims of a fire in a block of flats in south London yesterday.
Helen Udoaka, (34) and her three-week-old daughter Michelle; Dayana Francisquini (26) and Filipe Francisquini (3) and Catherine Hickman (31) died along with a six-year-old child in the fire in Camberwell last night. Three died in hospital, while the others were found dead in the building.
Questions are being asked about whether escape routes and fire prevention measures were “adequate” at the 12-storey Lakanal Flats, MP Harriet Harman said.
Ms Harman, the area’s MP, said people were “asking questions” about fire escape routes at the flats. She added: “There will have to be a thorough investigation in to 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 Wayne Chance said the fire started inside a fourth floor flat and is being treated as suspicious.
Thirty people were rescued from the block in Sceaux Gardens, off Dalwood Street, and 15 people were taken to hospital yesterday, including three who died. Eleven people had been released and one man, a firefighter, remains in hospital but his condition is not thought to be serious, Mr Chance added.
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 said.
Mr Chance said officers were dealing with a “large and complex scene” and added: “The investigation is likely to take some time.”
PA