Panic as Westfield Stratford shopping centre evacuated after fire breaks out
MAJOR shopping destination Westfield shopping centre in Stratford, east London, was evacuated due to a fire.
Shoppers were ushered through the fire exists at the huge mall on Monday afternoon as firefighters rushed to the scene.
Emergency services said they found a fire in a service area of the shopping complex, which sprang up shortly before 1pm.
The huge complex, next to the Olympic Park, is also attached to the Stratford railway and Underground stations.
A video from inside the 250-store centre - the busiest in the UK - showed panicked patrons leaving the premises.
The London Fire Brigade said they dealt with "small" fire quickly and let everybody back inside.
#westfieldstratford weird goings on. Alarm at Westfield pic.twitter.com/VuFRL6ocZJ
— Mel (@AwesomestowArt) January 25, 2016
A spokesman said: "We responded to a call from the Westfield shopping centre in Stratford at 12:49pm that reported a fire.
"Three fire engines attended to the incident.
Just been evacuated from #Westfield due to an apparent fire. Very chaotic! #Westfield #London
— James P (@jc9uk) January 25, 2016
"On the scene they found a small fire in the service yard at the premises. The fire was put out and the incident was over at 1:06pm."
No shops were affected and no people were harmed during the fire.
A video taken of the evacuation has said that alarms were going off and the escalators were clogged with people trying to flee the building.