Kiwi House near King’s Cross station evacuated after gas cylinders explode during event for New Zealand fans.
Up to 700 people were evacuated from New Zealand‘s Olympics hospitality house after a fire.
Emergency services were called to the temporary Kiwi House beside the University of the Arts in King’s Cross, central London after a gas canister being used for a barbecue exploded. Hundreds of New Zealanders who have come to London for the Games had gathered for a party before the blaze started. Brook Johnstone, 55, from Port Waikato, said: “I looked around and the gas bottle had a little flame around it. The cook was trying to put it out and the flame just got bigger so I just said ‘Let’s get out of here’.”
Johnstone, who is in London on holiday, said the canister exploded with such force that it blew the roof off the barbecue area.
New Zealander and Leeds University student Sonia Holland said she did not believe anyone was injured in the blaze.