More than 100 firefighters tackling blaze on 17th floor as debris seen falling from the side of the building

A huge fire has broken out at a high-rise block on the edge of the City of London with more than 125 firefighters attending the scene. 

Footage posted on social media showed flames burning fiercely from the 17th floor of the residential and office building, on Whitechapel High Street in Aldgate.

Burning debris could also be seen falling to the ground from the side of the 22-storey building onto the street below.

The Metropolitan Police said the block, which is located above Aldgate East tube station, was being evacuated. Some roads in the area have been closed.

The London Fire Brigade said: “Twenty fire engines are now at the scene of the Whitechapel fire which is in a block of flats and offices. Our control officers have taken more than 50 calls to the blaze.”

It added it had used a 64m ladder, which it said was the tallest in Europe, to get water onto the building from the outside.

London mayor Sadiq Khan said on Twitter that he was in close contact with the fire commissioner and warned people to avoid the area.

One eye witness tweeted: “Huge fire in Aldgate, huge glass panels falling 100s of metres to the ground, awful scenes.”

Now known as the Relay Building, the block, previously called One Commercial Street, contains 207 residential apartments along with commercial space.

Designed by architect Sigma Seifert, It started construction in 2008 but the original owner declared bankruptcy in 2010. The partially built site was acquired by Redrow in 2011, with construction completed by John Sisk & Son in 2014. 

Property developer Hondo Enterprises purchased the site that year and sold it to Harbor Group International in July 2018.

Redrow and Sisk have been contacted for comment.

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