(August 10, 2024 / JNS) Fire investigators in London are looking for the cause of a blaze that swept through a kosher restaurant in the city center in the wee hours of Friday morning that required more than 60 firefighters and eight fire engines to bring it under control.

This is the second fire this year at Reuben’s Deli & Restaurant in the Marylebone section of the city; one in February was reportedly caused by an electrical issue. The restaurant, which is more than 50 years old, has been closed since then.

According to the London Fire Brigade, the fire was reported at 4:56 a.m. on Friday and was finally deemed under control about two hours later at 7:10 am. The blaze damaged two floors of the four-story building that houses both the restaurant and apartments above it, according to reports.

Some 20 people escaped from the building before fire crews arrived on the scene. 

The owners of Reubens recently opened a kosher dairy restaurant just a few feet from the deli. According to the London Jewish Chronicle, that eatery was open for business on Friday morning.