Four people are being treated by paramedics following a blaze that ripped through a high-rise block of flats in Northern Ireland.

Emergency services are at the scene of the fire at Coolmoyne House in Dunmurry, near Belfast, where residents have been evacuated from the building.

Northern Ireland Ambulance Service said the fire was reported from the ninth floor about 6pm on Wednesday.

According to the Belfast Telegraph, hundreds of residents are now out in the street, with the local community hall opened.

The blaze comes months after a local councillor sought assurances that the high-rise was safe in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower disaster.

The four people were being treated by the ambulance service, but the situation was ongoing and there was no further details about their conditions, Mr McPoland added.

The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service are currently at the scene.

A spokesman for the Police Service of Northern Ireland said the matter was being dealt with by the fire service.

John McPoland  McPoland, a spokesman for the ambulance service of Northern Ireland, said:

“The flats were evacuated by the fire service. “They went in and were extinguishing the fire in a flat believed to be on the ninth floor. “Four patients are receiving ambulance assistance at this moment. It appears that everyone has been evacuated. “Northern Ireland ambulance service were called to the scene at 17.35 by fire and rescue. “They dispatched five ambulance and emergency crew, five rapid response paramedics, nine ambulance officers, a doctor and two heart paramedics.”