A MOSQUE in South London has been caught in a fire, which took almost 70 fire-fighters to put out.
The fire which occurred last Saturday afternoon in Morden, South London saw one person omitted to St George’s Hospital after suffering with breathing problems from the smoke.
The London Fire Brigade and several fire-fighters from New Malden, Wandsworth, Tooting, Sutton, Mitcham and Norbury fought to put out the blaze.
Around 50 per cent of the building’s ground floor was damaged as well as part of the first floor and a section of the roof.
It is currently unknown as to why the fire occurred. Councillor Martin Whelton who serves the Pollards Hill ward said: ‘It is clearly a major fire. We need to praise the emergency services. It looks like no one has been seriously injured.
‘The mosque does a huge amount of work in the community. It is very sad what has happened.’
Baitul Futuh Mosque, which is built on 5.2 acres of land and been open to the public since 2003, is one of the biggest Mosque’s in Eastern Europe. The Mosque provides worship for 10 thousand Muslims and cost 15,000,00 in Sterling to build.
Suspicion of Arson
Two teenagers have been arrested in relation with the fire, on suspicion of committing arson.
The Metropolitan Police commented: “We were called to the incident at around 12.18pm on Saturday afternoon. A 16 and 17-year-old have been arrested in connection with the incident and our currently being held at the local police station.”
The London Fire Brigade announced that an official investigation has started in relation to the incident.
It has been found that the mosque which has been used the the Ahmadiyya Muslim community since 2003, was owned by Express Dairies in 1999.
