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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
Miriam Burrell

Finsbury Park: Emergency services check for people under rubble after three-storey house partially collapses

Sixty firefighters and Metropolitan Police officers are responding after a three-storey house partially collapsed in north London on Saturday afternoon.

Neighbours of the house on Gloucester Drive near Finsbury Park heard a large boom and felt their houses shake as the building collapsed just before 12.30pm.

A number of nearby houses were evacuated for safety reasons.

The Met is unable to confirm if anyone is injured. A video of the scene showed firefighters calling for anyone trapped under the rubble to make a sound.

London Fire Brigade said the semi-detached house of three floors, with a basement, collapsed at the rear.

One neighbour, who the Standard agreed to not name, said: “My family and I were in our house...when we heard a massive bang and the house shook for about 10 seconds.

“We all rushed to the window [but] we couldn’t see anything as there was smoke everywhere.

“We went outside...we saw all the debris on the floor of our car park. I called the fire service.

“The building that crashed is a building that is undergoing construction. The area has been cordoned off.

“The fire service were searching for anyone under the debris. I don’t think there was anyone injured. We have been told to stay away from the windows by the police.”

Around sixty firefighters were called to the scene along with five fire engines and three fire rescue units.

The brigade was called at 12.17pm and is still at the scene.

Fire crews from Kentish Town, East Ham, Islington, Edmonton, Battersea and East Ham fire stations are in attendance.

A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “We were called today at 12.16pm to reports of a building collapse on Gloucester Drive, Hackney.

“We sent a number of resources to the scene, including an incident response officer and members of our Hazardous Area Response Team.

“We assisted our emergency services partners, but there were no patients to be treated.”

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