A couple said their lives and wedding have “turned to dust” after a fire engulfed a multi-storey building in Dagenham.
Lukasz Kurek and Agnieszka Uliasz, who were getting ready to marry in September, lived in a flat in the tower on Freshwater Road, east London.
More than 80 people were evacuated from the building after it caught fire just before 3am on Monday. The couple said they only had time to get their phones and dog before running to safety.
“The worst thing is that we were supposed to have our wedding in three weeks, that was meant to be the best day of our lives,” Mr Kurek told Sky News.
“It’s turned into dust and nothing because of that fire that has occurred. We are devastated.
“We are in dead end. We’ve got no money, nowhere to sleep, nothing, nowhere.”
Ms Uliasz said their documents and passports were left behind, and said she was meant to fly to Poland on Saturday. Her wedding dress, which cost £2,500, was also lost in the fire.
The lorry driver added that “there was smoke everywhere” as they left their flat. “We couldn’t breathe when we were coming out of the building,” he said.
“You don’t know how advanced the fire is when someone comes into your flat and tells you ‘oh, there is a fire, we got to go’.
“We didn’t know where the fire was, we only saw the smoke.”
He then told Sky News: “We are happy we are still alive, but our plans are ruined totally.”
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London Fire Brigade (LFB) said the blaze engulfed the whole building, including scaffolding surrounding the property and the roof.
More than 200 firefighters took part in what was called a “significant search and rescue operation”, and managed to save a further 20 people from the burning tower block.
Speaking on Tuesday afternoon, LFB commissioner Andy Roe Goulbourne said everyone had been accounted for and the fire was under control.
He told reporters at a press conference that the brigade was aware “there were known safety issues” with the building, and added fire enforcement action to carry out cladding replacement was started in 2023.
The commissioner also offered his “sincerest sympathies” to the residents of the tower block, who suffered what he described as “the most traumatic experience”, before adding: “We will be here for many days to make sure this site is left as safe as it possibly can be.”
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, who visited the site of the blaze, also said the damage was “horrific” and praised how “the community and the first responders, the council, and all of the emergency services came together”.
She said: “You can see the level of damage that’s happened to the building, and I’m incredibly grateful for those that responded and managed to make sure that everybody was out of that building safely.”
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The fire service previously said the block, described as a mixed-use residential and commercial building, was covered in “non-compliant” cladding.
Scaffolding surrounding the building was in place to remove the cladding and a fire enforcement notice issued last year highlighted concerns inspectors had at the time.
An investigation into the fire is under way and will examine what role, if any, the cladding played.
