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Kiwi House closes after explosion

Published: 6:32AM Thursday August 09, 2012 Source: ONE News

New Zealand's Olympic fan base in London is closed until further notice after its outdoor barbecue area was badly damaged in a huge blaze this morning.

Two gas bottles exploded in the fire at Kiwi House - a pop-up bar built for the Olympic Games in central London, behind King's Cross Station - forcing 300 people to flee the venue.

Kiwi House tweeted the fire would force the venue to close its doors.

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"We've had a rather large fire engulf the outdoor bbq area. Everyone is ok. We're closed till further notice," it said.

The London Fire Brigade said no one was injured in the blaze which started about 7.20pm (6.20am Thursday NZ time).

Have you got any video or pictures? Send them to news@tvnz.co.nz

Ten firefighters put out the fire and a cordon was put around the building in case other gas cylinders exploded.

Luke James, who was in Kiwi House when two gas bottles exploded, told TV ONE's Breakfast he saw a little bit of smoke, flames and then he heard "a big bang".

"There were people screaming and running, literally thought there was a bomb going off, and all we could tell was that people were leaving in a hurry."

He said it was frightening, people were jumping over fences and it was "absolute madness, pandemonium".

Brook Johnstone, 55, from Port Waikato, said: "I looked around and the gas bottle had a little flame around it.

"The cook was trying to put it out and the flame just got bigger so I just said 'Let's get out of here'.

"We got inside and everyone was evacuated."

Sonia Holland, from Napier, said people were pushed inside the building from the barbecue area before being told to evacuate.

"They got everyone out of the building as fast as they could. I was out within two minutes," the 19-year-old Leeds University student said.

Three New Zealand Olympians were at Kiwi House when the explosion happened.

Olympic medal winners including rowers Eric Murray, Hamish Bond and Mahe Drysdale as well as Valerie Adams have all visited the temporary bar during the Games.

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