Greenwich fire: 14 men arrested on suspicion of arson after a major blaze at a south London nightclub

A man is in a criticial condition in hospital after sustaining serious burns

The blaze had engulfed the majority of the ground by the time firefighters arrived (@JackVsJose)

Police have arrested 14 men on suspicion of arson after a fire broke out at a south London nightclub.

Around 100 firefighters rushed to tackle blaze at the Studio 388 nightclub in Greenwich, near the O2 arena, at around midday on Monday.

A man was rushed to hospital with severe burns and is currently in a critical condition.

Around a dozen people are believed to have escaped from the blaze by jumping from the roof.

London Fire Brigade (LFB) said a large part of the ground floor of the club and part of the first floor were burning when they arrived.

A warehouse next door was also completely ablaze and a scrap paper processing yard was partly alight nearby.

Plumes of smoke could be seen across the capital and many posted images of it on social media.

Station manager Winston Douglas said: "Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus rescued a man from the nightclub building and he has been taken to hospital by London Ambulance Service (LAS) suffering from burns.

"This is a large fire and the smoke could be seen from across London, meaning our 999 control officers took over 50 emergency calls.

"Our firefighters are making steady progress but they will be at the scene for the rest of the day, and possibly into the evening, so please try and avoid the area if possible."

The fire brigade put a safety cordon around the surrounding streets and told local residents to keep windows and doors closed because of the smoke.

Ben Cross, a founder of the Idiot Savant collective, called the fire a “tragedy” for the London music scene.

Idiot Savant held a 2,500-person event at 338 in June - the first foray into events for lifestyle brand SBTV, founded by Jamal Edwards - and were due to host another major event at the club in late August.

He told The Independent: “It's such a tragedy because 338 were becoming such a big presence in the London club scene."


 The fire could be seen from across London. Pictured in Canary Wharf 
 (Chris Gunns/Twitter)

“Really I’m just happy that most people are safe and that it isn’t more of tragedy.”

He said he was unsure about what his company will do but they have been contacted by other venues who have offered them their space for free because they knew what happened.

Mr Cross said: “There has been a really nice response from other venues in London.

“We have people messaging us saying 'we’ve got this venue and we would like to offer you free use because we heard about your situation'.

“So the industry is moving to respond, both to help out us, because obviously if you have such a big event and this happens then this is a massive problem, but also because they want to promote the scene.

“There is actually quite a lot of love shared between venues and promoters even though, of course, there is competition - it is all about building a music scene.”

A spokeswoman for Scotland Yard said: “Police were called to Boord Street, Greenwich, by London Fire Brigade at 11:55hrs on Monday, 8 August, to reports of a fire in progress.

“London Ambulance Service was also called to the scene.

“One man was taken to a south London hospital. He is in a critical condition.

“Fourteen men were arrested on suspicion of arson. They are in custody in south London police stations.”

Additional reporting by PA