Friday, 3 April 2015

Holborn underground fire extinguished


Kingsway on Thursday

An electrical fire in a tunnel beneath a pavement in central London has been put out after more than 36 hours.
Some 5,000 people were evacuated when police declared a major incident in Kingsway in Holborn on Wednesday.
About 50 firefighters remain at the scene as engineers continue to work to restore power to 400 customers.
Some 3,000 customers had originally been without power as a result of the fire, UK Power Networks said.
A spokeswoman said: "During the night National Grid were able to stop the flow of gas at Kingsway so the fire could be extinguished, enabling us to continue restoring electricity supplies.
Night view of the area affected by Holborn power cut
"We are working with the emergency services and other agencies to keep affected customers updated.
"The cause of the incident is being investigated, but until utilities can access the tunnel it's impossible to determine."
London Fire Brigade (LFB) station manager Sean Madeley said the fire had been put out at about 09:00 BST.
"We're staying at the scene to assist UK Network as they carry out work in the tunnel as a safety precaution," he added.
He said Kingsway was expected to remained closed for the rest of Good Friday, possibly longer, but some streets may be opened to pedestrians sooner.
Several West End theatres were forced to cancel performances on Wednesday evening including Beautiful - The Carole King Musical, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Disney's The Lion King, Gypsy, Mamma Mia! The Play That Goes Wrong and The Woman In Black.
Thursday's performances at the Novello and Aldwych theatres were also cancelled.