London's Shard evacuated after smoke seen coming from basement

05 June 2014 by
London's Shard evacuated after smoke seen coming from basement

The Shard building near London Bridge has been evacuated this morning after smoke was reportedly seen coming from the basement.

Around 900 people from the building's 72 floors were asked to leave, pending the fire brigade's investigation.

A host of hospitality businesses are based in the building, including restaurants Oblix, Hutong, and Aquashard, and the Shangri-La hotel.

The London Fire Brigade have been updating their followers via Twitter on the situation ( ), confirming that they had been called to the scene at 10:30am, and had sent seven fire engines and 50 firefighters.

The Southwark Metropolitan Police have confirmed that police and paramedics were also on the scene, although the fire brigade stated that there have been no reported injuries.

The scale of the emergency services response has been called a "routine precaution" due to the size of the building.

The Shard's own Twitter account ( ) said that the building's "evacuation procedures have been followed" and that they are "ready to assist as needed".

The latest tweet from the London Fire Brigade states that the "smoke appears to be dissipating", and a statement released earlier stated that there "was no suggestion at this stage that there is a fire".

The situation is still ongoing.

UPDATE:

The London Fire Brigade has now stated that the incident "was over" by 1.47pm, and at 2.45pm the Shard Twitter account confirmed that everyone evacuated had been let back into the building.

In a statement following the event, the Shangri-La hotel thanked its guests and the emergency services for their quick and efficient response to the incident, and confirmed that the hotel was back up and running.

A spokesperson said: "All guests were swiftly and successfully evacuated to the assembly point, while awaiting the results of the emergency services' investigation. The smoke alarm has now been cleared and all guests have returned to the hotel, which is now open and fully operational."

Aquashard said it regretted that its lunch service had been disrupted but that it was contacting all of the booked-in guests to help them reschedule. It too re-opened its bar at 4pm, with the restaurant set to begin its evening service at 6pm.

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Photos via

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Shangri-La hotel to open at The Shard on 6 May >>

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