Three dead after car smashes into sheltered accommodation block and catches fire

Three people died when a car crashed into a sheltered accommodation block and burst into flames.

Emergency crews were called to Great Western Road in Notting Hill, west London, at around 4.50am and found the vehicle on fire.

The blaze was extinguished but the three people who were in the car were pronounced dead at the scene. No other vehicles are thought to have been involved in the crash.

One witness who lives on the road told LBC they saw a neighbour run out to try to help the people in the burning car.

They said: “It’s a shock – you don’t expect something like that to happen.

“There’s no words. It’ll stay with us for a while.”

Manuel Gaspar, who owns a cleaning company near the scene, told the Evening Standard that a man rushed out with no shirt on to try to help the trio in the car.

He said: “I saw a brave neighbour who had just woken up and didn’t have a shirt on.

“He was trying to get into the passenger door.

“All the other doors were stuck or too damaged.”

Another told the newspaper that they saw the car “shoot past” driving fast over a bridge despite the weather being foggy.

Emergency services at the scene of the crash
Emergency services at the scene of the crash (Kirsty O’Connor/PA)

A London Fire Brigade spokesman said that their 999 call handlers took 20 calls to the blaze, and sent four fire engines along with two rescue units.

Police are now working to identify those who died and inform their families.

A cordon has been set up at the junction of Harrow Road and Great Western Road and is expected to be in place for several hours.

Police have appealed for anyone with information, video or photographs that could help the investigation to contact them on 101 quoting the reference CAD 917/14 Sept.

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