'Carnage' as evacuated residents hear 'screaming and crying' after blaze breaks out in flat

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Neighbours have described a scene of 'carnage' after a blaze out in a block of flats in the early hours of this morning.

Crews were called to the Wellington Terrace flats in Dukinfield just after 12.45am.

The fire broke out in a first-floor flat in the building, a spokesperson for the fire service said.

Residents who live in the block told the M.E.N they had to be evacuated while emergency services dealt with the blaze.

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One neighbour said the scene was 'carnage' as 'screaming and crying' could be heard.

Video footage showed smoke billowing from the windows as fire crews tackled the blaze.

Keir McGinn, 23, lives above the flat where the fire broke out.

He told the M.E.N he was evacuated from his home along with some other neighbours.

“I was sat here on my Xbox ready to go to bed,” he said.

“I started hearing lots of crackling underneath. It was continuous.

“I started to smell smoke. An ambulance guy knocked on my door and said I needed to come downstairs.

“I knocked on my neighbours’ doors to get them out.”

Another neighbour, who asked to remain anonymous, added: “I was just coming in at about 12.30am.

“I got out of my taxi and I could hear screaming and crying from the balcony.

“There was already an ambulance here, and I thought ‘what’s going on?’.

“It was only when I saw and smelled the smoke that I realised.

“It was carnage from there.”

Three fire engines were called to the scene.

Police officers were also called.

It has not yet been confirmed whether anyone was injured in the blaze.

A spokesperson for GMFRS said: "Just after 12:45am this morning (Tuesday 1 February), crews were called to reports of a fire involving a