Station fire probe rules out arson

Press, 23 November 1987, Page 8

Station fire probe rules out arson

NZPA-Reuter London Police investigating the cause of a fire that killed 30 people at a London underground station ruled out arson on Saturday. “There is no suggestion of any criminal act taking place in connection with the fire,” Detective Superintendent Tony Clift,: the head of the Investigation team, told a news conference. It was unlikely that charges for negligence would be brought, he said. Mr Clift said experts had established that Wednesday’s blaze at Kings Cross station started one third of the way up a 48-year-old wooden escalator leading from the platforms of one of five underground lines to the main ticket concourse. He said a small pocket of fire could have been

smouldering for up to two hours before erupting into a massive fireball towards the end of the evening rush hour at London’s busiest underground station. A London Fire Brigade spokesman said firemen who fought the blaze may have been exposed to the A.I.D.S. virus. “One of the dead, nurse , Lawrence Newcombe, was HIV positive and we immediately advised firefighters who may have been exposed to be tested for A.1.D.5.,” a spokesman, Colin Williams, told Reuters. He said firemen usually wore gloves during a fire but may have used bare hands for resuscitation purposes. Up to 50 of the 200 firefighters involved could have been exposed to the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (A.1.D.5.) virus.