Stoke Newington building collapse: Resident tells of diving out through the door as masonry fell around him

A Stoke Newington resident has described the moment he dived out through the doorway of a collapsing building as rubble fell around him.

Masonry and scaffolding fell from above shops in Stoke Newington High Street at shortly after 9am today (January 27).

Around 20 residents were evacuated and the road is closed while firefighters and the authorities work to secure the scene

One resident told LondonWorld that he was in the building when it happened and that he was “still shaking”.

“I live on the second floor and it was like an earthquake,” he said. “Everything started coming down and I heard people yelling and screaming.

“The big worry was that people could get killed. I don’t know if you saw the rocks - that’s what was coming down.

“The people in the building were running down…and we opened up the door and people started screaming ‘get out, get out’ and we couldn’t figure out if they meant ‘get out’ meaning ‘come out’ or ‘get out’ meaning ‘move’.

“I thought they meant to get out so I jumped through there, while everyone else did the opposite. I got yelled at, rightfully, but I didn’t think about it at the time.

“I came out when the stuff was still coming. Most of it had come down.”

He said a neighbour’s cat was still in the building, but added: “I’m not saying the cat isn’t important but the Maslow Hierarchy, your life needs, is a lot different when your building is collapsing. “

The fire brigade asked people to keep away from the scene.