In the early hours of 5 March 2023, an e-bike battery caught fire at a flat in Maddocks House, Shadwell.
Mizanur Rahman, 41, died in the fire.
He was one of up to 20 young Bangladeshi men living in the two-bedroom flat at the time. The other residents, who paid £100 in cash per week to sleep in bug-infested bunkbeds, managed to escape, only to watch the fire from the street below.
Today, 12 survivors of the fire are bringing unprecedented legal action. They are suing Leon Cycle Ltd, the company who produced the e-bike battery, for damages in negligence and under the Consumer Protection Act 1987.
They are also suing the landlords of the property, Sofina Begum and Aminur Rahman, for damages in negligence and under the Occupier’s Liability Act 1957. The landlords were convicted of numerous housing offences following the fire.
The survivors want justice for Mizanur and for themselves. But they also want justice for all those who have been affected by e-bike battery fires.
Over 10 people were killed in the UK last year by such fires. E-bikes and e-scooters remain London’s fastest growing fire risk, the London Fire Brigade (LFB) has said, rising by 78% last year.
The survivors want the manufacturers of these products to be held to account. Action is desperately needed, before more lives are lost.
The survivors are represented by Daniel Cooper, Partner, and Patrick Dunne, of IKP Solicitors. They also act for other families who have lost loved ones as a result of these fires.
The survivors are available for comment.
