Firefighters are tackling a blaze on a number of floors in an apartment block in Manchester
Roads have been closed as emergency services respond to the fire in a 12-storey building on Joiner Street in the city’s Northern Quarter.
Images posted on social media show flames engulfing several floors and smoke billowing out, while crowds of people watch on from below.
One person has been taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) said.
Members of the public have been urged to avoid the area, with Joiner Street and Church Street closed.
The fire service tweeted: “We still have 12 fire appliances tackling the blaze in the Northern Quarter over a number of floors.
Two members of the emergency services on a cherry picker at the scene (Danny Lawson/PA)
“Firefighting in still ongoing and one casualty has been taken to hospital suffer by smoke inhalation. Please avoid the area as roads are still shut.”
A spokeswoman for the North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) said resources are at the scene but no further information is currently available.
Manchester Central MP Lucy Powell tweeted: “I have spoken with the Manchester fire service. The #manchesterfire is under control and the building is being safely evacuated.
“Paramedics & others are at the scene to triage all those affected but no serious injuries known. Thank you our brilliant firefighters & paramedics.”
GMFRS tweeted: “The fire had spread to multiple floors but we have things well under control here.
“Firefighters along with colleagues from the Police and Ambulance service have done an amazing job to tackle this difficult incident!”
Witness Andrew Hirst said crowds could be heard cheering as the blaze was being extinguished.
“You could hear the crowd’s cheers as it was going down and you could see the torches from the firemen searching the burned out apartments right next door to the other apartments that were still frighteningly ablaze,” the 36-year-old told the Press Association.
The businessman, who lives in Manchester’s Northern Quarter, said the firefighters “controlled it well”, adding the incident was “pretty scary”.