Cydney Parker, 26, described thinking she was going to die when she ran into the blocked exit after the fire broke out at the Spectrum building in Dagenham, east London, in the early hours of Monday.
Speaking to Sky News of her ordeal, the tearful 26-year-old said: “I've looked outside and seen loads of fire engines pull up … I looked through the front door and the whole corridor is covered in thick black smoke. We had to run, and we realised that the [exterior] fire gate had been padlocked shut, so we couldn't get out. It felt like I was going to die then and there.
“The only way out was finding something [we could use] to jump over the fence. As we were on top of the fence, we couldn't get down, so we were screaming at police officers to come and help us... How can they cut off a fire escape?”
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