Man dies in Southwark flat fire as second person rescued by firefighters

A man has died in a flat fire in South London this morning (Wednesday, September 4). The London Fire Brigade raced to reports of a blaze on King James Street in Southwark at around 5am.

Six fire engines and around 40 firefighters were needed to tackle the blaze in a third-floor flat. A man was pronounced dead at the scene, the Metropolitan Police and London Fire Brigade (LFB) have now confirmed. The blaze took two hours to bring under control, and is now under investigation.

A second person was rescued by firefighters from the building, and four other people left the block of flats before the fire service arrived at the scene, the LFB added. However, these five people refused to be assessed by paramedics, a London Ambulance Service spokesperson said.

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The London Fire Brigade has said: "Sadly a man has died following a fire on King James Street, Southwark. Six fire engines and around 40 firefighters responded to the fire. A third floor flat, consisting of three rooms, in block of three floor was destroyed by the blaze.

"Sadly, a man was declared dead at the scene. A second resident was rescued by crews from the building, and a further four people left the building before crews arrived.

"The Brigade was first called at 0502, and crews had the incident under control by 0718. Firefighters from Dockhead, Old Kent Road, Soho and surrounding fire stations attended the scene. The fire is under investigation by the Brigade and the Metropolitan Police Service."

A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said: "Police were called at approximately 05:00hrs on Wednesday, 4 September to reports of a fire at a flat in King James Street, SE1. London Fire Brigade attended and dealt with the blaze.

"A man – no further details – was pronounced dead at the scene. There are no reports of any other injuries. Enquiries into the cause of the fire remain ongoing."

And a London Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “We were called at 5.03am today (Wednesday 4 September) to reports of a fire in Kings James Street, Southwark. We sent resources to the scene, including ambulance crews, members of our Hazardous Area Response Team (HART), an incident response officer and London’s Air Ambulance.

“The first of our crews arrived at the scene in four minutes. Our crews assisted our emergency services partners at the scene. Five patients declined to be assessed or treated by our crews and sadly, one person died at the scene.”

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