Twelve rescued from central London mansion block blaze

Trapped residents were saved from a burning building in central London as thick smoke billowed from the windows.

Firemen using turntable ladders rescued 12 people from York Mansions on St Giles High Street, behind Tottenham Court Road Tube station, after an electrical cupboard caught fire on the ground floor yesterday evening.

People trapped in the building screamed for help and scrambled on to window ledges to escape the choking smoke. Nobody was injured although many rescued from the five-storey building were treated for smoke inhalation.

Matthew Chan, 22, a shop assistant from Newham, said: "Some people were screaming. One man on the first floor climbed out the window and was on the ledge trying to get down. People were holding his feet trying to help him."

A Fire Brigade spokesman said: "Two people were lifted from the roof level, three from the fourth level, three from the first floor and four from the ground floor."