'I could have lost my whole family': Roof of nursery school in Isle of Dogs collapses

Tragedy was narrowly avoided after a ceiling collapsed onto an east London nursery school - just hours after children had gone home.

One mother told ITV News London she "could have lost her whole family" when the ceiling fell in on Crossharbour Montessori Day Nursery in the Isle of Dogs just before 9pm on Thursday evening.

The entire middle section of the roof collapsed into the nursery classrooms below, the very spot where toddlers and young children would have been playing.

Nobody was in the building at the time.

Parents found out about the incident when videos were posted into a WhatsApp chat.

Kendra Semple, who has two children at the nursery, aged 18-months and three, said: "Obviously the first reaction was first 'thank goodness it didn't happen three hours earlier'. "Three hours earlier my husband was fetching them from school and I could have lost my whole family. "That was the initial shock that everyone was feeling."

The nursery said there were no immediate plans to re-open and want to make sure the property is safe before allowing children to return. They want to see a full investigation into the incident.

Roxanne Johnson, who lives in a flat above the nursery, said she was in the bath when she heard a loud noise that sounded "like an earthquake".

"It was pretty scary," she said.

Ms Johnson rang the fire brigade, who "arrived in minutes", after running to the window and seeing the caved-in roof.

Worried about the structure of the building, she grabbed her children and ran outside.

"If it had during the day, we'd be looking at a different story," Ms Johnson said.

The pre-school's director Harp Lakhan said they were "shocked and upset", but "grateful that no one was hurt".

"We do not understand how this can happen with a new building only 10 years old," he said.

"We are expecting a thorough investigation from the landlord and local authorities.

"We need to ensure that the building is safe before we let anyone in."

Local councillor Peter Golds said: "If that had been earlier on, god knows what could have happened," he said.

Cllr Golds told ITV News London he had arrived at the scene just after 9pm and saw emergency vehicles.

He said he wants reassurances structural damage has not been caused to the adjacent flats.

"There are safety issues of the whole building and that building includes many storeys of housing and I've called upon the council not only to investigate what's happening with the nursery but what's going to happen to the people living there and will their flats and home be secured."

Councillors from Tower Hamlets were also seen inspecting the damage soon after the collapse.

London Fire Brigade said it was called to a nursery in the Isle of Dogs last night.

In a statement, LFB said: "A third floor roof collapsed into a second floor nursery. The Brigade was called at 2049 and the incident was over by 2138.

"No injuries are reported and no people were involved. One fire engine attended from Millwall fire station."

A Tower Hamlets Council spokesperson said: “We are shocked at the roof collapse and it is fortunate it happened out of nursery hours. Our team visited the site last night (Thursday) to inspect the privately owned building. We found the roof extension to be unsafe and we will issue a Dangerous Structure Notice for this section of the building only.

"The rest of the building is not impacted. We have also referred this incident to the Health and Safety Executive.

“We are expecting the building freeholder to arrange for a Structural Engineer to investigate the cause of the collapse and advise us of their conclusions and plan for remedial works to be undertaken.

“The council’s Early Education team will work with the nursery to support parents and carers who need to seek alternative childcare, whilst the nursery is closed.”

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