Photographer Amy Weston says, “I heard people crying out that there were others in the building”
WENN photographer Amy Weston feared for her safety last night (08Aug11) after taking a dramatic photo of a woman jumping from a burning building during the London riots.
WENN say: The snap is already being hailed as one of the most iconic pictures of the violent riots, which were sparked by the fatal shooting of Mark Duggan by police in Tottenham, North London on Thursday (04Aug11).
Amy with a selection of front page usages this morning
Weston reveals she saw the unnamed woman sitting on her window ledge, before leaping out into the arms of police officers below. Weston says, “I was told there were fires in the Church Street area, near Surrey Street Market. “By the time I drove towards it, I could already see the fires from my windscreen. “There were six or seven people screaming and crying outside, and they looked like they lived at the flats that were burning. The flats were above small independent shops. A man in a white shirt was screaming that a girl was at the window and that she was ready to jump. He ran towards her but riot police had appeared and pulled him back, and they went to her instead. “As soon as she dropped, the crowds pushed back and there was no way to see what happened to her. I remember hearing people screaming that there were more people in the building. The crowds started getting angry with each other, with one group blaming another group for starting the fire. “There were warnings of gas cylinders being fired into the crowd from riot police so I got out of there. I couldn’t get to my car so I had to walk, wrapping my camera in my clothes to avoid being mugged.”
WENN boss Lloyd Beiny comments, “Our photographer Amy Weston risked personal injury to capture this image, which, judging by the global media interest, is likely to be one of the top news images of the year.”
Weston has been a WENN photographer for five years.