Kebab shop worker leaps from first floor window as fire rips through Portsmouth building
Firefighters were called to Pompey Pizza and Kebab, in Kingston Road, at 8.13am after a fire broke out in the rear of the building.
Mustafa Kilic,the cousin of the shop’s owner Aziz Yalcin, woke up to discover his room, in a flat above the shop, ‘full of thick black smoke.’
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Hide AdHe said: ‘When I opened my door, there was black smoke everywhere.
‘I didn’t know what was happening because of the smoke.
‘I shouted for help, but I got no answer.
‘I panicked, climbed out of my window, grabbed the sign above the shop, and jumped down.’
A passerby and Mustafa sought help from the owner of nearby Udaya News newsagent.
Thyagarajah Kulendran, 47, rushed out with his ladder to help rescue two other men who were trapped.
He said: ‘They were in a lot of shock.
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Hide Ad‘I was not scared - when you see someone in trouble you do not think, you just help.’
Firefighters arrived within four minutes, with three fire crews from Southsea and two from Fareham taking over the rescue.
Southsea station commander Steve Buchanan-Lee said: ‘The gentleman’s community spirit is to be saluted.
‘We moved the gentleman along and one of our ladders was put up to the first floor window.
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Hide Ad‘The first thing to do was rescue people from the front of the shop.
‘We were able to locate and put out the fire within 20 minutes.’
‘All the crews did a fantastic job given the hot weather.’
The three men living above the shop were treated for smoke inhalation by an ambulance crew at the scene. Mustafa suffered cuts to his arm.
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Hide AdInvestigators are now working to uncover the cause of the blaze.
Kingston Road was shut between Little Arthur Street and Toronto Road.
A spokesman for South Central Ambulance Service said: ‘Three patients were treated at the scene for mild smoke inhalation by our team and did not require further hospital treatment.’