LARGEST MOSQUE IN EUROPE - Burning Down Today In South London [PHOTOS]

Before: The Baitul Futuh can be seen here in a file photo from 2003. One man caught up in the blaze is is hospital with smoke inhalation

Seventy firefighters in south London are battling an enormous blaze which engulfed western Europe’s largest mosque. Ten fire engines were dispatched to deal with the fire at the Baitful Futuh mosque in Morden, which started burning around midday.

A man has been taken to hospital for smoke inhalation, but community leaders have
said they do not believe anybody else was affected. The cause of the blaze is not yet known. Shocked onlookers gathered opposite the mosque, watching a dark plume of smoke billowing out of the building’s roof before they were ushered behind a police cordon. The fire was reported by a member of the public just after midday.

Ablaze: Pictured is the Baitul Futuh in Morden, South London, which is the largest in western Europe

The enormous building sits on a 5.2acre site and can hold 10,500 people. At the time of the fire, however, only a handful of worshippers were inside, and were quickly evacuated. Nobody was at prayer when the fire broke out.

The huge effort to control the fire involved the police, ambulance services and the large fire brigade presence. The firefighting operation shut down the A24 and traffic was tailed back for miles as a result. As of 6pm, the London Fire Brigade said they had contained the fire to administrative buildings and halls around the main mosque, which was not directly affected by the fire - though it was engulfed by smoke. Shortly afterwards they declared the fire 'under control'.

Huge effort: 70 firefighters were deployed to tackle the enormous blaze on Saturday afternoon

Croydon station Manager Philip Morton said from the scene: 'This is a large fire and our crews have worked hard in difficult conditions to minimise fire spread within the affected building. 

'Thankfully they have managed to confine the fire to the administrative buildings on the site and the mosque itself is unaffected. We have worked closely throughout the incident with the local community to ensure our damage control operations take full regard of the religious significance of the building's contents'.

Emergency: Police, ambulances and the London Fire Brigade flocked to the blazing mosque this afternoon

Plumes: Smoke could be seen rolling into the sky from miles away as the mosque was consumed by flames

Ornate: The mosque's archways and spires were scarcely visible behind the smoke caused by the blaze

Close: The blaze is not far from Morden's Tube station, part of which can be seen in the above pictured. Morden is the southernmost station on the Northern Line

Firefighters are expected to remain at the mosque overnight while the fire continues to die down. An ambulance spokesman said: 

'We treated a male, reported in be in his 40s, with smoke inhalation and took him to St George's Hospital as a priority.'

 Source
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