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Forensic investigators prepare to sift through the aftermath |
Sauna fire deaths were ‘a tragedy waiting to happen’
Forty firefighters to extinguish blaze in which two are killed
A FIRE killed two people on Sunday morning when it ripped through an unlicensed sauna in Camden Town in “an accident waiting to happen”.
Eyewitnesses told how flames leapt from the shopfront of A Touch of Class sauna in Royal College Street and thick smoke engulfed the street.
Forty firemen battled with the blaze for three hours before finally bringing it under control.
Terrified victims jumped from the first floor to escape the flames, according to eye-witnesses. Some clambered to safety after walking along the awnings of the terraced five-storey building and escaped into a neighbouring window.
Police confirmed that the bodies of a 44-year-old man and a 34-year-old woman were discovered by firefighters in the basement. The man was pronounced dead at the scene while the woman died a day later at the Royal Free Hospital.
Forensic experts believe an electrical fault cause the cause of the fire, and have ruled out arson.
By Wednesday a tribute of three bouquets of carnations had been laid at the scene. An inscription on the card said: “Emmen, we love you so much we well neve forget you!! You are always in my heart! Love you Rezina xxx”.
A group of women were seen crying and talking on their mobile phones immediately after the blaze.
Firefighter Glen Gorman, one of the first at the scene, said: “Flames came out of the ground and first floor. There was a huge amount of smoke. Two women jumped off the first floor prior to our arrival, and were taken straight to hospital. One had 30 per cent burns, which is the equivalent of the whole surface area of an arm or a leg.”
But as fire investigators blamed a faulty electrical device for the blaze, historian and former Camden Town councillor Gerry Harrison said the tragedy might have been averted if his complaints about the sauna had been heeded.
He said: “This is a terrible tragedy that’s happened now. We councillors often hear from residents that something is ‘an accident waiting to happen’ – and this certainly was. I think Camden Council should hang its head in shame.
“This place has been unlicensed for quite a long time.”
Mr Harrison said he reported his concerns about the sauna to the Town Hall and police two years ago after hearing reports of prostitution, allegations that underage girls worked at the club, and accounts of underworld dealings.
Both police and the council had acted on allegations of prostitution at the sauna in 2005, the New Journal has learned.
It was raided by the vice squad in 2001, and again in February 2005, when it was one of 19 premises targeted in a police crackdown. Five men were convicted as a result of that crackdown for keeping brothels for prostitution including this building.
A police spokesman said yesterday (Wednesday): “We have demonstrated that where there is intelligence we have taken action, as shown by two raids in four years on the same premises.”
Camden Council, which issues ‘special treatment’ licences to saunas and massage parlours, refused to renew its licence in March 2005 following the police raids because the council suspected it of continuing to be a brothel. A council press official said: “The licence was not renewed as we became aware that it could have been operating outside of the licence.
“During 1992 and March 2005 a health and safety visit was made each year by both us and the Fire Brigade to check all health and safety regulations were being followed. This includes things like proper ventilation etc.”
She confirmed that when the licence lapsed in 2005, health and safety visits ceased. Neither the police or the council have taken any action in respect to the sauna since June 2005.
The most recent available property documents show the basement and ground floor of 180 Royal College Street is leased by a Seychelles-registered company called Tiger Holdings Ltd. The New Journal was unable to contact this company through its listed solicitors yesterday.
A post-mortem on the two bodies was carried out yesterday (Wednesday). An inquest into their deaths is expected to open on Monday.
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