A man was saved from the top of a burning building by a crane that carried him away from the flames in a box, dramatic video footage shows.
In the clip, a worker is seen amongst huge billows of black smoke and bursts of flame as a crowd watches on in a town in England close to London.
After the box lands on the roof, the man climbs inside and shuts the door, before being lifted away from the blaze as onlookers cheer and clap.
Despite the inferno, in the town of Reading, South Central Ambulance Service confirmed neither of two people taken to nearby medics at the Royal Berkshire Hospital had severe injuries or smoke inhalation.
Steve Reynolds, who works in a building close to where the fire started, told the BBC: "I saw a black cloud go up and a ball of flames happen and all of a sudden I could see there was a guy trapped on the corner.
"There were bits of glass falling off the side of the building and he was completely exposed up there. Then all of a sudden a crane came out from the left with a carriage on it and they lowered it down... and he gets in and they pull him away. There was a massive cheer from all the workers on the ground. It was pretty terrifying."
Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue said it was called to tackle the blaze at 11:38am and had more than 50 firefighters at the high-rise development, intended to be a business and living quarter for the town.
They used breathing apparatus and two main water jets to fight the fire, which officials from the fire service confirmed has now been extinguished. Locals who had been told not to go near the area will now be allowed back into unaffected premises.
South Central Ambulance Service said on Twitter it had sent a hazardous area response team, an ambulance, the Thames Valley Air Ambulance critical care car, an operational commander, a tactical adviser and a tactical commander to the scene.
A statement released to media by communications company Redwood Consulting, on behalf of the Station Hill premises, said: "We activated our fire emergency plans immediately, the emergency services were notified and are currently on site. The safety of those on-site and the wider public is always our first priority, and the site has been evacuated as a result."
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