Blaze at giant London mosque

Seventy firefighters are tackling the blaze at the Baitul Futuh mosque in Morden and a man has been taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation.

Emergency services have confirmed the fire at a south London mosque.

Its website describes it as the largest mosque in Western Europe.

The fire brigade added the cause of the fire was not yet known.

“We are using an aerial appliance to apply water to the roof – a fire break to stop the fire spreading”.

The Baitul Futuh mosque in Morden went up in flames just after midday, with smoke seen for miles around.

Merton Council leader Stephen Alambritis said one person had been taken to hospital for a smoke related injury.

The mosque is used by members of the Ahmadiyya muslim community – a sect of Islam.

Station Manager Philip Morton, who is at the scene, said: “This is a large fire and our crews are working hard to minimise fire spread to other parts of the mosque”.

“I saw it start from my window”.

He said about 50% of the building’s ground floor was alight and the first floor was also on fire. The $8.3 million complex can accommodate up to 10,000 worshipers and covers an area of 21,000 square meters.