Zen restaurant: Fire breaks out in Southampton

Abdul Muttalib and his wife, Neela, 27, "left everything behind" when they fled with their four-year-old daughter Nuriya after a fire broke out above the Japanese restaurant Zen.

Fire crews were called to the closed restaurant on the junction of High Street and Bernard Street at around 6.30am on Tuesday.

Crews were met with “flames and smoke coming out of the first-floor windows” when they arrived.

Road closures were in place between High Street, Bernard Street and St Michael’s Street while crews tackled the electrical fire.

Speaking to the Echo, 33-year-old Abdul said: “My missus went to work at around 6am. When she came outside she saw the smoke.

"When she came back and told me I picked up my daughter and we ran outside until the fire brigade arrived.

"I left everything behind and just rushed outside in my pyjamas. It was terrifying because we didn’t know what was happening."

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Crews arrived shortly after that and worked to bring the fire under control.

Abdul added: “The little one was quite alarmed and scared because the smoke was quite thick so we took her to school.

“The building has been abandoned for a long time and we use to see people come in and out through the back and it was always in the evening.”

Plumes of smoke coming from the first floor of the restaurant on the High Street, Southampton (Image: Mariah Bressiani)

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Group commander Dave Clements, who was in charge of crews at the blaze, said: “The fire was well lit when we arrived with flames and smoke coming out of the first-floor windows.

"The crews worked incredibly hard to bring the fire under control.

"Within half hour to an hour, the fire was well under control, and within another half hour, the fire was completely out.”

HIWFRS attending the fire on the High Street, Southampton (Image: Newsquest)

A nearby business owner, who did not want to be named, told the Echo: “I opened the shop at 8am, and that’s when I saw the fire and ambulances outside.

"I was shocked to see that the Japanese restaurant was on fire. I’ve been working in the shop for three years and a Japanese restaurant has always been here.

He added: “When I came in the morning I saw the fire was already out, it’s quite a shocking thing to see especially first thing in the morning.”

A spokesperson for the fire service said no one was injured and the fire is not being treated as suspicious.