Morden mosque fire: huge blaze breaks out at Baitul Futuh mosque in south London

Blaze: firefighters at Baitul futuh mosque

Twitter/@Doggy_Boutique

Rachel Blundy26 September 2015

Firefighters today tackled a huge blaze at a mosque in south London.

Ten fire crews were called to the fire at Baitul Futuh mosque and the neighbouring community hall in Morden just after midday.

Seventy firefighters were sent to the scene, where about 50 per cent of the mosque's ground floor was alight, a London Fire Brigade spokeswoman said.

Smoke was seen billowing from the building for miles around as fire crews worked to contain the flames, which also spread to the building's first floor and its roof.

The mosque, which was completed in 2003, is reported to be the largest in Western Europe, covering 5.2 acres. It can house up to 10,000 worshippers and cost about £5.5million to build.

Police closed part of London Road and advised motorists to avoid the area.

Merton MPS tweeted: "London Road, Morden (A24) closed Southbound due to fire. Avoid the area if you can. Closed for foreseeable future #RoadClosure."

One person, a man aged in his 40s, was taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation, a spokeswoman for the London Ambulance Service said.

Smoke: the fire in Morden @Stephanie_Haigh

Twitter/@Stephanie_Haigh

There were no reports of any other injures, she added.

In a statement, she said: “We were called at 12.21pm to London Road, Morden to reports of a fire.

“Our crew were on scene within six minutes and have sent a number of resources.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">Hope everyone is safe <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Morden?src=hash" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-2956331-https://twitter.com/hashtag/Morden?src=hash" data-vars-event-id="c23">#Morden</a> fire <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://t.co/U2MpN5FIEi" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-2956331-http://t.co/U2MpN5FIEi" data-vars-event-id="c23">pic.twitter.com/U2MpN5FIEi</a> — Sharon Woodward (@MrsSWoodward) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/MrsSWoodward/status/647745198374678528" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-2956331-https://twitter.com/MrsSWoodward/status/647745198374678528" data-vars-event-id="c23">September 26, 2015</a>

“We treated a male, reported in be in his forties, with smoke inhalation and took him to St George’s Hospital as a priority."

No one from the mosque was immediately available for comment today.

Witnesses described their shock at the fire in posts on social media.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">Morden Mosque on fire. <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://t.co/bqALHUwMTF" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-2956331-http://t.co/bqALHUwMTF" data-vars-event-id="c23">pic.twitter.com/bqALHUwMTF</a> — Colin Tutty (@MrColinTutty) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/MrColinTutty/status/647750010134745088" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-2956331-https://twitter.com/MrColinTutty/status/647750010134745088" data-vars-event-id="c23">September 26, 2015</a>

Merton councillor Martin Whelton said: "Hope everyone is okay at Morden Mosque and that @LondonFire have it under control."

Michael Baggs said: "I pray there's no injuries in the Morden mosque fire. How awful."

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en"><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/morden?src=hash" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-2956331-https://twitter.com/hashtag/morden?src=hash" data-vars-event-id="c23">#morden</a> Mosque on fire. Hope everyone is safe. Huge thanks to the fireman heros and stay safe too! <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://t.co/5GlpNqR6fN" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-2956331-http://t.co/5GlpNqR6fN" data-vars-event-id="c23">pic.twitter.com/5GlpNqR6fN</a> — Liz Heitz (@DrLizHeitz) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/DrLizHeitz/status/647748892143013888" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-2956331-https://twitter.com/DrLizHeitz/status/647748892143013888" data-vars-event-id="c23">September 26, 2015</a>

Another Twitter user wrote: "May Allah keep everyone at the Baitul-Futuh mosque save. Ameen. #Morden"

In an update just before 2pm today, the London Fire Brigade said crews from New Malden, Wandsworth, Tooting, Sutton, Mitcham and Norbury were tackling the blaze.

A spokesman said the cause of the fire "was not yet known".