Panic in Peckham after mystery flashes light up night sky

Londoners across the city were left baffled after the night sky was lit orange last night.

Residents from the South Bank all the way to Camberwell reported seeing the strange flashes above the city’s skyline throughout the evening.

Social media users described it as ‘insanely bright’ which only got stronger, with some expecting it was a rave.

Some also joked: ‘I always knew the apocalypse would start at Elephant and Castle.’

Well we are not transporting into a new dimension quite yet.

It turns out a huge fire had broken out at Queen’s Road Peckham railway station, just 200 metres from the end of the platform.

Some 15 firefighters were needed to tackle the blaze, with a half metre section of the track completely destroyed.

London Fire Brigade said: ‘Three fire engines and around 15 firefighters were called to a train track fire around 200 metres from the end of a platform at Queen’s Road Peckham and South Bermondsey railways stations.

‘Trains were temporarily stopped in both directions and the power on the tracks was isolated to allow fire crews to gain access to the track.

‘At the height of the fire the Brigade’s 999 Control officers received 90 calls alerting them to the fire. The first call came at 8.49pm and the fire was under control by 11.30pm.’

There were no reports of injuries, and train services have since resumed as normal.

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