A London cancer hospital has been evacuated after a fire broke out in the building.
The fire has now been brought under control.
A London fire brigade chief said that all patients and staff at the Royal Marsden Hospital had been evacuated.
Television images showed smoke and flames billowing into the air from the roof of the hospital.
Staff said the fire started on the top floor of the building.
Fifteen fire engines and 75 firefighters tackled the blaze in the Chelsea district.
Patients were taken to nearby areas, including the Royal Brompton, the Chelsea and Westminster. One witness said patients were being carried on mattresses from the various hospital exits.
A spokeswoman for the Royal Marsden said few details are available at the moment but the entire hospital had been evacuated.
A spokeswoman for Unison said its members worked hard to ensure that patients were evacuated safely and were not put under any unnecessary risk.
The Royal Marsden was the first hospital in the world dedicated to the study and treatment of cancer.
With The Institute of Cancer Research, it forms the largest comprehensive cancer centre in Europe, seeing more than 40,000 patients from the UK and abroad each year.
