Cladding-issue flats demolished in east London months after devastating fire

A block of flats which had known safety issues that was engulfed in a huge fire in east London has been demolished three months after the inferno.

More than 80 people were evacuated and two were taken to hospital after the blaze in Freshwater Road, Dagenham, in the early hours of August 26.

Some 20 people were rescued following a “significant search-and-rescue operation” as 45 engines and around 225 firefighters responded to the incident.

The block was undergoing “remedial” work to remove and replace “non-compliant cladding” on the fifth and sixth floors, according to a planning application document.

On Monday, images showed demolition contractors using heavy machinery at the site to tear down the building.

The different coloured wallpaper on each of the block’s floors could be seen on the exposed interior as the building was taken apart.

Irina Vasile, 46, who lived on the building’s second floor, told the PA news agency the demolition had taken her by surprise.

She said: “It’s heartbreaking, because [we] wasn’t expecting it to be demolished.

“All of us, we still had hope that we can retrieve some belongings, especially some documents.”

Ms Vasile, who now lives in private rented accommodation, said she had visited the demolition on Monday.

“Today when I went there, it’s like I’m a part of a movie,” she said.

“Since August, my life is not the same. I lost the sense of life, of the wellbeing.

“Every single day when I leave the house, I come back three, four, five times to check if everything is okay. I feel something burning in the night. I have nightmares.

“We’re living day by day.”

She added: “We had a beautiful life there, we have many memories, and suddenly we lost everything.

“Why? I don’t know who is responsible for that.”