09 Aug 2012
A fire broke out at New Zealand’s Olympics hospitality house, prompting the evacuation of up to 700 people.
The blaze happened when a gas canister being used for a barbecue exploded at Kiwi House, near King’s Cross in central London.
Brook Johnstone, a 55-year-old from Port Waikato, said the explosion had such force that it blew off the roof from the barbecue area.
Sonia Holland, a New Zealander and student at Leeds University, said she did not think anyone was injured during the incident which she described as a “big kerfuffle”.
Ms Holland said: “Everyone was pushed inside but then people were telling us to get out of the building. They got everyone out of the building as fast as they could. I was out within two minutes.”
Emergency services attended to the scene at Kiwi House, where hundreds of New Zealanders were gathered for a party before the fire started.
Copyright Press Association 2012