Story & photo: Mohamed Bashe
An ice-cream van on Andover Street caught fire and burst into massive flames and smoke – as seen in the picture taken by Mohamed Bashe, a local writer and taxi driver.
The fire, believed to be an accident, happened at about 6pm on June 1st when it was one of three ice-cream vans on the street. No one was hurt but smoke went into every room of the buildings along the street. About 150 children in the Altaqwa Mosque were evacuated as well as other families from the nearby houses. The arrival of the fire engine seemed to take a while but the children were kept far enough away until it was safely extinguished.
Ian Fenton from the South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue stated, “Before leaving the scene, the fire crew requested the police to attend and arrange removal of the vehicle.” However the remains of the vehicle were in the street for several days.