UK weather: Woman killed by falling masonry in Holborn named as cab driver Julie Sillitoe

Man pulled from wreckage and taken to hospital

A woman has been killed and a man is being treated in hospital for injuries after a building collapsed and fell on a car in central London.

The building collapsed on to the vehicle at around 11.05pm yesterday opposite Holborn Tube station, the Metropolitan Police said.

The woman, a 49-year-old minicab driver, has been named as Julie Sillitoe, from north London.

A police spokesman said she was married, with three grown up sons, and was working when her car was crushed by masonry.

Her two passengers, a 25-year-old man and a 24-year-old woman, were sitting in the rear of the vehicle and were taken to hospital.

Another man believed to be a passer-by was treated for leg injuries, according to the London Ambulance Service.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: “A front portion of the building had collapsed on to a Skoda Octavia car. The car was stationary at the time of the building collapse.”

Rubble lay strewn around the damaged car, which was surrounded by police tape outside a branch of McDonald's.

The twisted driver's door and the back right-hand side passenger door had been wrenched open but two-thirds of the vehicle, sloping down to the driver's seat and the front windscreen, was caved in.

Paramedics and firefighters were also called to attend the incident and roads in the area were closed.

London Fire Brigade said the concrete fascia of the building collapsed on to the car, which was in Kingsway.

Around 20 firefighters helped to free the trapped pair from the car.

A spokesman said: "Another woman travelling in the car managed to get out of the vehicle before the brigade arrived.

"Around 10 people were evacuated from nearby buildings as a precaution."

London Ambulance Service said four people were injured, three reported to be in the car and a passer-by.

"Sadly, despite extensive efforts to resuscitate her, a woman was pronounced dead at the scene", a spokesperson said.

"A man reported to be in his mid-20s had suffered leg injuries and was treated and stabilised before being taken to the Royal London Hospital.

"Two other people, a woman and a man, were taken to University College Hospital with minor injuries."

Cordons were put in place around the building for safety and the road was closed on Saturday.

Additional reporting by Press Association