Hundreds evacuated as fire threatens theatre

HUNDREDS OF people were evacuated from the heart of London's theatre-land last night after a five-storey office block caught fire.

More than 100 fire-fighters were called to tackle the blaze in Covent Garden, which was reported shortly before 8pm. Fire crews from 12 appliances and two special rescue platforms battled to contain the fire, which raged into the early hours, threatening housing, pubs, and offices.

Two people were rescued from the office block's top storey and taken to hospital suffering from the effects of smoke.

The fire was near the Cambridge Theatre, which was staging the musical Grease, and would-be theatre-goers were among those evacuated. A fire brigade spokeswoman said the fire is believed to have started on the third floor and to have spread out of control.

"We are having tremendous difficulty getting to grips with it ... We do not know the cause of the fire and will not be able to establish how it started until we can get our fire investigation team in, which is proving more difficult than we thought."