Two people leapt from top of four-storey flats engulfed by flames One witness described the scene she saw from her window on the opposite side of the street as "the worst thing I have ever seen in my life." Jessica Cooke, 20, said her builder dad was working in a room at the top of the house when he heard noise from across the street. As he looked out of the window he saw a woman throwing herself from the flats. Miss Cooke then joined her father upstairs and said she saw a man standing on a ledge before shinning down a drainpipe. She said: "It was a man and woman who came down - they were both airlifted to hospital. It was absolutely awful. It's the worst thing I have ever seen in my life. It was the worst thing to watch the man on the ledge. We didn't know what was going to happen. The rescue effort was hampered by a staircase in the block of flats collapsing, Miss Cooke claimed. Eyewitness Kerry Standen said on Facebook he had been in the car with his young child when he saw the blaze. He wrote: "As we drove past there was a man at the window shouting for help. He jumped in the end. Then a lady jumped out shortly after. It was horrific! I had to carry on driving as I had my five-year-old in the car. He added: "As we were parked up just down the road the fire service turned up and saved the other man that was on the ledge. I hope to dear God that the woman and man are OK. It was horrible! The cause of the blaze is not yet known. Around 30 firefighters tackled the fire after six fire engines and an aerial appliance were sent to the scene, while roads in the area were closed. Firefighters searched the building and battled the flames using three main jets and one hose reel jet. A Kent Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said: "Six casualties have been treated at the scene, one of which was rescued by firefighters using a ladder. The roads around the incident remain closed and people are being asked to avoid the area. A spokesman from South East Coat Ambulance Service said that two helicopters along with a nuimber of other ambulance vehicles had been deployed to the fire after a report that people were leaping from windows to escape the blaze. She confirmed that two people had been taken airlifted to a specialist hospital in London where they were being treated for smoke inhalation and other injuries. Another patient was taken to Medway Hospital for smoke inhalation. She said: "We were called at initially at 3.27pm this afternoon with reports of a building on fire in Marine Parade, Sheerness. We had some confused reports initially about the extent of the fire and how many people may or may not have been involved. We did receive reports that some people had jumped out of the building due to the fire.