All 80 occupants of a premises in Belfast were evacuated in the early hours of Wednesday morning as fire fighters tackled a blaze on Great Victoria Street.

The Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service (NIFRS) said it received a call at 2.10am to attend a fire at 97 Great Victoria Street, Belfast.

“In total eight fire appliances and 55 firefighters from Central, Cadogan, Springfield, Westland, and Lisburn were involved in tackling the blaze that started on the first floor,” the fire service said.

“Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus extinguished the fire using firefighting jets and searched the sixth floor premises. All 80 occupants were safely evacuated following extensive smoke spread. NIFRS worked alongside Northern Ireland Ambulance Service and Belfast City Council to relocate occupants to a nearby community centre until the incident was dealt with.

“The incident has now been scaled down and the cause of the fire remains under investigation.”