Firefighters inspecting the ninth floor at The Combe last night 

REPORTS by CAITLIN MASKELL, DAN CARRIER, TOM FOOT and DAISY CLAGUE

RESIDENTS were urgently evacuated yesterday (Thursday) and had to spend a night on the floor of a leisure centre as the block was deemed unsafe.

Around 150 tenants and leaseholders at The Combe in Munster Square on the Regent’s Park estate were ordered to leave after firefighters responded to reports of a loud bang on the ninth floor yesterday. A large crack was discovered in one flat and a structural assessment deemed the 1950s building unsafe. Repair works began today (Friday).

Echoing the 2017 Chalcots estate evacuation, residents raced to pack belongings into pull-along suitcases late into the evening and were ringing around for alternative accommodation. Around a third of residents slept on airbeds laid out in the Swiss Cottage Leisure Centre, including families and people with pets.

The latest council update said: “Specialist engineers attended The Combe from 8am today. Their assessments indicate the damage appears to be isolated to the flat where the crack was reported and that it will be possible to start repairs this afternoon.”

Tanja and cat Poppy

Tanja Mahl, who is disabled and has the chronic pain condition fibromyalgia, with her cat Poppy had a sleepless night in the leisure centre in a council van. She has lived in her flat in the block for 30 years.

“I am homebound and bed-ridden so I didn’t see much. I saw the fire brigade and then I went back to bed. I heard a noise and my neighbour told me they were asking the south side to evacuate. Around 11.15pm they started knocking on doors saying we all had to go,” she told the New Journal.

“When I asked them ‘why, what do I need to pack?’ They said someone had recorded a crack in the wall. Then I sat down and cried. I didn’t know what to take. I took Poppy’s litter tray.

“I was the last one here last night. It was really warm, that was good. It was actually warmer than my flat. It’s really windy in the block. But I haven’t had any sleep – no one has had any sleep really. We are all just worried that we are going to have to leave our homes permanently. I love my flat.”

Another tenant Lina Bolivar, who has lived in the block for 15 years, said: “It felt very scary. We had little time to pack the important things. None of us has had any sleep because of the automatic lights in the leisure centre. We appreciate the Red Cross coming. They were very good. They brought inflatable mattresses, blankets and water. 

“I serve in the church; I am a missionary. In the afternoon we had a youth meeting. Obviously everything has had to be cancelled, but never mind. We just hope we can go home soon.  Your whole life is at home. It’s not the material things, but you are thinking about all the memories there. It’s very sad.”

Chris Delesquez, who also lives in The Combe, said: “I got back from work and we were told we couldn’t go beyond the tape. My whole life is in there, between those four walls. I’ve heard from residents who have been in the block for over 45 years. Those people have said nothing like this has ever happened there.”

He added: “My mindset is pretty neutral really. I don’t know what to expect. You hear about disastrous circumstances, in those cases you are put up in the hotel. I had been working all day. I went out in the evening and came back, and now I’ve been up all night.”

Chris and Jahaira Delesquez with Lina Bolivar and dog Nana

Residents who did not want to be named spoke of chaos when the order went up to leave.

“I was told my family had to get out or they would kick the door in,”  said one. “They were just getting across how urgent it was I think.”

Another resident said: “You just don’t know what to do in that situation. Your brain doesn’t work. I didn’t know what to take. Passports. Chargers. I know we are all safe and that is the most important thing, but you want your stuff.”

Kelly Strong, the chair of the Regent’s Park estate tenants and residents association, told the New Journal: “It all happened right in front of me. I live in the block opposite.

“The fire brigade were seeing families out and doing a really good job at trying to keep everyone safe – and now residents have little communication about what is happening. When can they move back in? It was so sad seeing people have to move their kids out at 11pm.”

Airbeds lined up against the wall in Swiss Cottage Leisure Centre

Tenants were suggesting today (Friday) that the issue may be related to DIY work in one of the flats. One, who has lived in the block for 20 yeas, said: “This has rocked me to my core. I suspect they’ve done work on the internal wall and the whole place has just collapsed.

“It happened at 3.30pm yesterday afternoon. I heard a massive bang and people were saying it was a suspected explosion. We heard sirens about an hour and a half later, and then knocks on the door. We were hearing it might have been an explosion or a wall had collapsed.”

Clint Hylton, who has lived in Combe for 24 years and works for the London ambulance Service, had been settling down in his second floor flat to watch a film after a shift.

“I have a sound bar and sub woofer for watching films. I had them turned up,” he said. “I suddenly felt the floor shake and I thought to myself ‘I didn’t know I’d got the bass up that loud’. I thought ‘wow’.”

He knew something was more serious when neighbours began knocking on doors.

He said: “People were being told to evacuate immediately but it wasn’t clear at first whether it was the whole block on just the side the flat is on. I saw people leaving but I thought I’d wait until I had heard for sure what we needed to do.

“I stayed as late as I could. I waited until we were told that we absolutely had to get out. A neighbour came along and said we really did have to leave. It was quite disturbing.”

The Combe remains out of bounds as residents wait to see when they will be allowed back

Mr Hylton’s cat Lucy has had to remain behind as he did not have a cat basket for her. He has left his heating on and topped up her food bowl – and said he will be able to get back inside at some point to get fresh clothes and check up on her. He returned first thing today (Friday) and has been waiting for further news.

He said he was fortunate that his daughter lives a short walk away so he had somewhere to stay.

He said: “It’s a nice place to live. It’s not had any major issues. They did some repairs to balconies a few years ago but then they didn’t do all of them. I think they ran out of money before it was finished. There are some people who have been here since the place was built.”

He said tenants had heard various explanations for the sudden failure of the wall.

Clint Hylton was one of the last tenants to leave at about 11.30pm

He said: “There have been a few rumours. Someone said at first it was a gas blast. I also heard it was in the flat where there is a bloke who is a bit of a DIY’er, always doing some work there. We heard something like an explosion and when the brigade came, they found a horizontal crack. It is obviously something they have to take seriously.”

Shiraaz Ali is painting a mural opposite The Coombe block – commissioned by Camden Council and using HS2 funding. He said: “I came this morning to continue my mural opposite the block as I have been for the past two weeks and I just started getting messages and people telling me that the block had been evacuated. Obviously, I can’t work today as we can’t yet access the building and my paints are inside on the bottom floor. I just can’t even imagine what these people who live here are going through.”

He added: “It reminds you to be grateful and since I’ve been working here the community has been so welcoming and kind. I just can’t believe this has happened.”

Two birds among the pets that came out of The Combe and stayed at the leisure centre last night

Camden leader Councillor Richard Olszewski, who was at the block overnight, said: “The safety of our residents always comes first. We worked closely with the London Fire Brigade last night to assess this issue and evacuate The Combe for residents’ safety. Our priority since then has been to ensure all residents are supported and cared for.”

He added: “I appreciate nobody wants to leave their homes in these circumstances and all residents affected will be keen to know when it will be safe to return. We are working as quickly as we can, with our emergency partners and structural engineers, to understand when this might be and to ensure there are alternative arrangements in place for residents in the meantime. I thank residents for their patience so far and to the emergency services who worked last night to ensure everyone was evacuated safely.”

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