Seven in hospital after fire at block of flats

Seven people have been taken to hospital after a fire broke out in a block of flats in Maida Vale, central London.

The blaze is confined to a single fifth-floor flat in Falkirk House, although smoke has spread across the surrounding area.

Emergency services were first called at about 09:40 BST, with around 100 firefighters and 15 fire engines sent to the scene. So far, 15 people have been led to safety, including six wearing fire escape hoods.

A total of nine people were treated for burns and for the effects of smoke inhalation, the London Ambulance Service said. The cause of the fire is not yet known, and crews remain at the scene working to bring it under control.

Reporting from the scene, the BBC's Mallory Moench spoke to Martina Curih, who was with her seven-month-old baby.

She said she smelled something burning at about 9:40.

"I saw smoke coming from the window. So I just looked and said, 'Oh, my goodness.' I went, I ran out," she said.

Curih said the fire broke out on the fifth floor and that one of her friends on the fourth floor was still inside at about 10:30.

She spoke on the phone with the friend, who said firefighters were coming to rescue her from the opposite side of the building from where the fire broke out.

"I'm very worried now," she said.

Another resident, who lives on the eighth floor, said: "We just woke up and saw smoke, and were told to leave the building."

He was standing on the pavement, cradling a toddler wrapped in a blanket and wearing pyjamas.

An older woman without shoes sat on a metal stepladder beside him, with a small child sitting on her walker.

A firefighter wrapped a warming blanket around her and the child, before another rescuer told them to move further away because of the smoke.

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