Residents narrowly avoided injury after a partial building collapse on a busy north London high street on Friday.
Firefighters and paramedics rushed to Stoke Newington High Street at 9.30am after parts of a building flew off the roof.
Builders frantically shouted at shoppers to get back as a “huge ball of orange dust” erupted engulfing an Afro-Caribbean greengrocer.
Masonry from the roof and scaffolding fell onto the pavement with residents from the flats above being rescued using a cherry picker.
The force is urging locals to avoid the area.
One shop worker said it was “like a bomb that had gone off as the rubble came down”.
“There was dust everywhere I opened the door and shouted at people to get away. It was a miracle no-one was killed.
“If that happened later on in the day I believe we are looking at ten people dead.”
He added: “We were worried about the builders.
“Then the scaffolders came down they were all effing and blinding at each other.
“The really incredible thing is that it was allowed to happen.
“There was a young bloke trying to get near to try and see if anyone was crushed. I had to tell him there was no-one underneath and to stand back because we didn’t know what would happen next.”
Local Beth Clifton, 39, told the Standard: “I am luckily OK. Twenty seconds earlier and I wouldn’t have been.
“I’m just so worried about if anyone was under there. I keep checking to see.”
“There was a massive crash and huge ball of orange dust covered the area. When the dust settled I walked across the road to see the damage.”
She added: “Builders told us to move away. It took a while for the emergency services to arrive.”
Stoke Newington High Street shut
— Shomrim (Stamford Hill) (@Shomrim) January 27, 2023
A building has collapsed near the junction of Brooke Road@LFB_HACKNEY Emergency services and @HackneyCouncil officers are on the scene
SN High St is currently closed between Batley Rd and Brooke Rd
Please avoid the area if possible pic.twitter.com/RLTDktlISC
A spokesperson for the London Fire Brigade said: “Firefighters were called to reports of a partial building collapse on Stoke Newington High Street.
“Scaffolding at the front of a range of shops and masonry from the roof has fallen into the pavement.
“Around 20 people have been evacuated from properties via the rear of the building.
“People have been asked to avoid the area.”
A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “We were called this morning at 9:26am to reports of an incident on Stoke Newington High Street, Hackney.
“We sent a number of resources to the scene, including one ambulance crew, an incident response officer, members of our hazardous area response team (HART), and a medic in a fast response car.
“Our first medic arrived at the scene in approximately two minutes.
“Our crews are assisting emergency services partners. The incident is still ongoing.”
