Residents Evacuated After Two Four-Storey Houses Collapse In Chelsea

Residents had to be evacuated in Chelsea, London, after two four-storey houses collapsed.

Two mid-terraced houses which were under construction in Durham Place crumbled to the ground at around 11.30pm last (Monday) night.

Twitter/Angus Fanshawe

Around 40 people from neighbouring properties were evacuated and a 25 metre cordon was put in place by police.

No injuries have been reported.

Station Commander Jason Jones, who was at the scene, said: "There was a total collapse of the building from the roof to ground level.

"Firefighters worked to make the scene safe and our drone team carried out a search.

"A police search dog also carried out an external search of the building and at this stage, there are no reports of any injuries. Nobody is thought to have been inside the building at the time of the collapse.

"Local road closures will remain in place this morning."

One neighbour said the collapse will be 'very expensive to fix'.

According to the Daily Mail, he said: "There was just a huge thud. I thought it was thunder but there was only the one loud thud. It wasn't until the morning on my way to work that I saw the building had collapsed.

"There were lots of police and the road was sealed off.

"Workmen have been there for weeks excavating a basement. I don't think anyone was in the property at the time but it is going to be very expensive to fix.

"The roof has just collapsed inwards and taken down the whole of the inside."

Twitter/Angus Fanshawe

The Metropolitan Police confirmed in a statement: "Police were called at 23:25hrs on Monday, 2 November, to reports of a building collapsed in Durham Place, SW3.

"The occupants of neighbouring properties have been evacuated as a precaution.

"At this stage, there are no reported injuries and nobody is thought to have been inside the building.

"Emergency services remain at the scene."

Topics: UK News

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey