LONDON FIRE: Awesome Photo-Documentary Captures The Tragedy
‘Nobody on the top three floors survived’: Six dead and dozens missing as massive blaze ‘sparked by faulty fridge’ engulfs 27-storey tower block in just 15 minutes: Residents hurl themselves from windows while others make ropes from sheets
- Six confirmed dead and death toll will rise after huge inferno broke out at a residential tower block in London
- Dozens including children and elderly still missing after fire engulfed Grenfell Tower in White City at 1am
- Many residents believed to still be trapped inside the 27-storey building as it teeters on the brink of collapse
- Residents were seen throwing themselves and their children out of windows to avoid being burned to death
- More than 600 residents desperately tried to escape the flames as the fire broke out in the middle of the night
- Surivors claimed there was no working fire alarm, sprinklers failed and the only staircase out was blocked
- The London Ambulance Service said 50 people have been rushed to five different hospitals around the capital
- Grenfell’s residents warned landlord KCTMO about ‘appalling’ fire safety and say refurb contributed to blaze
- Send your photos and videos of the fire at Grenfell Tower in White City to [email protected]
The fire that swept through a 27-storey west London tower block in just 15 minutes after a fridge exploded could be one of the worst in British history amid fears nobody on its top three floors survived.
Six people are known to have died after fire engulfed Grenfell Tower in White City after 1am today but Scotland Yard says the death toll is expected to rise significantly.
A community leader working to locate victims, who asked not to be named, believes nobody who lived on the top three residential floors survived and the building could collapse in the next 24 hours.
He said: ‘We have a list of missing people – there are so many. It’s possible there are more than 50, possibly hundreds’.
Those who managed to flee said it was ‘like hell on earth’ inside as they scrambled over dead bodies and claimed there was no working fire alarm, sprinklers failed and the only staircase out was blocked.
At the height of the blaze petrified residents were seen throwing themselves and their children out of windows to avoid being burned to death – others made ropes by tying bed sheets together or used them as makeshift parachutes and jumped.
The local council, the block’s landlord and the contractor used to refurbish the building last year face serious questions about how the fire took hold so quickly in a tower branded a ‘death trap’ by survivors.
With dozens now feared dead or missing it has emerged:
- At least six people have died, 74 are in six London hospitals including 20 in a critical condition after Grenfell Tower blaze started at 1am;
- Dozens more are feared dead or missing with one source claiming total could run into the hundreds. The Casualty Bureau number is 0800 0961 233;
- Trapped residents begged to be rescued while waving white towels, torches and mobile phones after being urged to stay in their flats;
- Petrified people were seen throwing themselves and their children out of windows – a baby tossed from the ‘9th or tenth floor’ was caught and survived;
- 200 firefighters with 40 engines needed to tackle ‘unprecedented’ blaze – residents claim that fire alarms didn’t work, sprinklers failed and only stairwell used as exit was blocked;
- Residents gave repeated warnings about ‘appalling’ fire safety to landlord Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO), whose four bosses earned £650,000 between them last year;
- New plastic rain-proof cladding encasing the building in £10million refurbishment ‘went up like a match’ and helped fire spread quickly from fourth floor to 27th floor – although the contractor insists it was safe;
- Dozens of similar blocks from the 1960s and 1970s refurbished in recent years have the same or similar new cladding;
- Local community including celebrities bring food and clothes to crisis centres while others offer the now-homeless places to stay;
Police have said it is not possible to confirm how many people are unaccounted for because the building is still on fire more than 12 hours after it started.
Police would not confirm how many people are unaccounted for because the building is still on fire 12 hours after it started (pictured this after) – six are known to be dead but the toll is likely to be much highter
There are real fears that that nobody who lived on the top three residential floors may have survived the unprecedented fire
A brave firefighter is pictured inside the burnt remains of the 27-storey building, as efforts are made to investigate what caused the blaze
A body wrapped up in a blanket, obscured by MailOnline, lies in the ground floor of the White City tower block largely destroyed by fire over night
Firefighters continue to battle large scale blaze in London tower block more than 12 hours after it broke out on the fourth floor
At least one resident is still stuck inside the block on the 11th floor, with firefighters still desperately trying to reach him
A man (circled) looks from a window as smoke pours from a fire that has engulfed the 27-storey Grenfell Tower in west London
Firefighters have braved extreme temperatures and needed riot shield to protect themselves from falling debris including glass and cladding
Many residents who gathered outside the smoldering ruins of the building said the fire had been caused by a faulty fridge in one of the flats, but the fire service told MailOnline it could not confirm the reports at this stage
The trapped, some of whom are still inside, were heard begging for their lives while waving white towels, torches and mobile phones
The 27-storey Grenfell building, which was built in 1974 but refurbished last year, has an average of six flats per floor lived in by council tenants and a smaller number of private owners or tenants
Grenfell’s own community action group called for the tower to be pulled down four years ago over ‘appalling’ fire safety in the building and said today their repeated warnings to landlord Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO) fell on ‘deaf ears’.
KCTMO completed a £10million refurbishment last year and the new cladding encasing the block originally built in 1974 ‘went up like a match’, one resident has said.
Commander Stuart Cundy, of the Metropolitan Police, said: ‘I can confirm six fatalities at this time but this figure is likely to rise during what will be a complex recovery operation over a number of days.’
Did the building’s new cladding make the fire much worse?
The cladding used on Grenfell Tower may have exacerbated the fire, it has been claimed.
Rainscreen cladding, which was added during the block’s refurbishment, can act as a ‘chimney’ for fires because of its ventilated cavities.
Many have speculated as to whether this could have made the fire worse, and led to it spreading quickly and trapping residents.
Jack Monroe, a former fire fighter, tweeted about the incident and said: ‘Whoever signed off on that cladding needs to be hauled before a court and held fully accountable for every single fatality and injury.
Chartered surveyor and fire expert Arnold Tarling, from Hindwoods, said that the process can create a 25mm-30mm cavity between the cladding and the insulation.
‘It produces a wind tunnel and also traps any burning material between the rain cladding and the building.
‘So had it been insulated per se, the insulation could fall off and fall away from the building, but this is all contained inside.’
He said not all insulation used in the process is the more expensive non-flammable type
‘So basically you have got a cavity with a fire spreading behind it.’
Rydon carried out an £8.6 million project, completed in May 2016, to modernise the outside of the building, which saw new cladding and windows installed.
In a statement, the Sussex-based firm said it was shocked by the ‘devastating’ blaze, adding: ‘Rydon completed a refurbishment of the building in the summer of 2016 for KCTMO (Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation) on behalf of the council, which met all required building control, fire regulation, and health and safety standards.
Fire crews are searching the tower and Mr Cundy added: ‘I do anticipate that there may be people within that building that are as yet unaccounted for.’
NHS England said 74 people are being treated in six hospitals across the capital, of whom 20 are in critical care.
Mr Cundy said it is likely to be some time before police can identify the victims, adding that it is too early to speculate on the cause of the fire.
Prime Minister Theresa May was said to be ‘deeply saddened by the tragic loss of life’ and newly appointed police and fire minister Nick Hurd will chair a meeting of the Civil Contingencies Secretariat to co-ordinate the response.
London Fire Commissioner Dany Cotton told reporters: ‘This is an unprecedented incident. In my 29 years of being a firefighter, I have never ever seen anything of this scale.’
Grenfell Tower was built in 1974 and contains 120 flats thought to be home to between 400 and 600 people.
The building was refurbished recently at a cost of £8.6 million, with work completed in May last year.
Rydon, the firm that carried it out, said its work ‘met all required building control, fire regulation, and health and safety standards’.
London Fire Brigade said the cause of the fire is still being investigated, but several residents reported one man had said it started in his faulty fridge.
The brigade said a structural engineer had checked the building and determined it was not in danger of collapse and that rescue teams were safe to be inside.
Many traumatic accounts of the fire and its impact have emerged, including a baby being dropped from the tower.
Samira Lamrani said she saw a woman try to save the baby by dropping it from a window ‘on the ninth or 10th floor’ to waiting members of the public below.
Residents who escaped complained there had been no fire alarm, with many relying on neighbours to wake them as the blaze spread.
They said official advice in the event of a fire had been to stay inside.
Michael Paramasivan, who was in his seventh floor flat with girlfriend Hannah West, 23, and her daughter Thea, five, said: ‘If we’d listened to them and stayed in the flat we’d have perished.’
A residents’ action group said its warnings about safety had fallen on ‘deaf ears’. A blog post from Grenfell Action Group in November said ‘only a catastrophic event’ would expose the concerns residents had.
The group said there was one entry and exit to the tower during improvement works and it had issues with evacuation procedures.
London mayor Sadiq Khan said: ‘There will be a great many questions over the coming days as to the cause of this tragedy and I want to reassure Londoners that we will get all the answers.’
Witnesses said the fire spread rapidly up the building, with some suggesting it was fuelled by gas.
Mr Paramasivan, 37, told the Press Association: ‘There were explosions everywhere you looked, lots of bangs, blue gas coming out everywhere you looked.
‘About 12 floors up I saw three children waving from a window and then there was just an explosion and they disappeared.
‘They were three kids, they were banging on the windows, you could see their silhouettes and then bang, it just went up.’
Muna Ali, 45, said: ‘The flames, I have never seen anything like it, it just reminded me of 9/11.
‘The fire started on the upper floors … oh my goodness, it spread so quickly, it had completely spread within half an hour.’
Robert Black, chief executive of Kensington & Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation, which manages Grenfell, said: ‘The fire at Grenfell Tower is devastating and the reports of injury and losses of life absolutely heartbreaking.’
Residents were trapped ‘screaming for their lives’ as flames raged through a 27-storey tower block in Notting Hill in the early hours today
In this image taken by eyewitness Gurbuz Binici, a huge fire engulfs the 27-storey Grenfell Tower in Latimer Road, White City
A woman covered in ash is comforted by others as she looks on while the enormous fire rages through the night and into the morning
More than 600 residents desperately tried to escape the flames as the fire broke out in the middle of the night, with many woken by the screams of others and the smell of burning plastic
The cordon around the block has been pushed back by police and homes surrounding it evacuated amid fears that the building could collapse in the densely populated area of London
Dany Cotton, Commissioner of the London Fire Brigade, said there had been ‘a number of fatalities’ following a ‘unprecedented incident’ that she described as the largest in scale that she had seen in her 29-year career
Hundreds of people have been left homeless after the blaze, with community centres opening their doors to those affected
Several people have been confirmed dead after a huge inferno broke out at a residential tower block in West London (shown)
Firefighters have been battling the blaze for several hours and while the flames are slowly being brought under control, there are fears the tower could collapse
Six people are known to have died after fire engulfed Grenfell Tower in White City at 1am today but Scotland Yard says the death toll is expected to rise significantly
A trapped resident looks out from his window as he tries to get the attention of the rescue services. Emergency services asked people to shine torches or their phones from their windows to let them know they were still inside
The full extent of the damage caused by the fire is evident in this photograph taken this afternoon, as firefighters continue to extinguish fires in the upper levels of the block
The heat was said to be so intense that firefighters (shown) were unable to get close to the building, which was built in 1974 – the exhausted emergency services took shifts to rush the building because they were using oxygen tanks because they are technically limited to four hours at a time.
Firefighters and paramedics work on someone pulled from the burning building today – but many are feared to be inside
Families who escaped the flames were left to face the reality of their home and all of their belongings being destroyed in the fire, which started in the early hours of this morning
Firefighters covered in dust and soot from the burning building are offered food and water by a volunteer near Grenfell Tower
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has also demanded to know why Grenfell residents were told to ‘stay put’ in their flats for up to an hour in the event of a fire.
Dany Cotton, Commissioner of the London Fire Brigade, said there had been ‘a number of fatalities’ and structural engineers are checking the stability of the building, which appears to have warped.
One witness said he saw several people jumping to their deaths from all floors to escape the fire.
A survivor broke down on live TV as he said his neighbour on the fourth floor had confessed that his ‘fridge had exploded’ before fire swamped the building – but the fire service told MailOnline it is too early to confirm the cause
Samira Lamrani, 38, said: ‘He was just beside himself. He was just as surprised at how quickly the fire spread as anybody else.
‘I could hear him saying that he contacted the emergency services immediately and they reassured him everything would be under control within a short period of time, and obviously it wasn’t.’
Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, said questions will need to be answered over the safety of tower blocks in the capital as a result of the fire.
At least one resident is still stuck inside the block on the 11th floor, with firefighters desperately trying to reach him.
Those in the upper floors were seen flashing torches in a bid to call for help, tying bedding together to create makeshift ropes.
Panicked residents trapped high in the enormous tower were heard screaming for help as they leaned out of their windows and tied bed sheets together in an attempt to reach the ground.
Many of those evacuated said they were woken by screams, intense heat and the smell of burning plastic, thought to be white cladding that was installed on the building last year as part of a £10million refurbishment.
One woman said that residents faced ‘either jumping out the window with their children and risk breaking bones or staying where you were and dying’.
The fire is said to have spread from the second floor to the roof of the enormous 120-flat block in just 15 minutes, with 200 firefighters struggling to bring it under control.
Eyewitness Tamara told BBC News: ‘You could hear people screaming ‘help me, help me’.
‘There were people throwing their kids out [of windows], they were shouting ‘save my children’. The fire brigade were telling people to stay where they were, they were telling people ‘we’ll come and get you’.’
Hanan Wahabi, 39, who lives on the ninth floor, said she was awoken at about 1am by smoke.
‘I could see there was ash coming through the window in the living room, which was partially open,’ she said, sitting with her husband and son, 16, and daughter, eight, outside a local community centre.
‘I looked out and I could see the fire travelling up the block. It was literally by my window,’ she said. ‘I slammed the window shut and got out.’
After the family escaped, she called her brother, who lives on the 21st floor, to see if he was all right.
Fire crews and emergency services continue to deal with the still smouldering Grenfell Tower in west London, almost half a day after the first 999 call was received
Firefighters make their way into the wrecked building with a police escort. Officers were tasked with protecting those entering the building from falling debris by using their riot shields
As news spread of the disaster, hundreds of volunteers descended on west London to give food, clothing and water to community centres caring for victims
More than a hundred police officers were drafted in to help with the rescue operation, with another 100 paramedics also rushed to the scene
This man, who was pictured throughout the morning desperately waving for help as the huge inferno raged around him for nearly 12 hours, was eventually rescued by firefighters
Queens Park Rangers Academy volunteers donate training kit to those who have lost the majority of their possessions in the fire
‘A mother on the top floor escaped with her six children. By the time she got to the bottom, she only had four with her’: Residents give horrific eyewitness accounts
A woman with six children who was attempting to escape from the 21st floor of the London tower block fire this morning got to the bottom to discover two of them were missing, it has been claimed.
Dozens of horrific eyewitness accounts have begun to emerge from the 27-storey tower block fire in White City this morning, with residents claiming people are still stuck inside the building – which houses 600 people.
There have been a ‘number of fatalities’ at the fire at Grenfell Tower in west London, London Fire Commissioner Dany Cotton has told reporters.
One resident described how people were ‘just throwing their kids out’ screaming ‘save my children”.
Local resident Tamara told BBC News: ‘Around 12.30/1am my mum called me and said there was a fire outside. By the time I got there the whole right side of the building was on fire, the whole thing was engulfed in flames.
Dozens of horrific eyewitness accounts have begun to emerge from the 27-storey tower block fire in White City this morning, with residents claiming people are still stuck inside the building – which houses 600 people.
‘We could hear people screaming ‘Help me’ so me and my brother, with some other people who live in the area, ran over to the estate to where you could still get underneath it and there were people just throwing their kids out saying ‘Save my children’.
‘The fire crew, ambulance and police couldn’t do anything, they couldn’t get in, and they were just telling them to stay where they are, and we’ll come and get you. But things quickly escalated beyond measure and they couldn’t go back in and get them.
‘Within another 15 minutes the whole thing was up in flames and there were still people at their windows shouting ‘Help me’. You could see the fire going into their houses and engulfing the last room that they were in.’
Another witness, Samira, told BBC News: ‘It escalated really quickly. Around midnight the fire was only around the third floor and then, before you know it, the whole 23 floors of the building were all on fire and there were people screaming for help and throwing kids out.
There have been a ‘number of fatalities’ at the fire at Grenfell Tower in west London, London Fire Commissioner Dany Cotton has told reporters
‘I think everyone felt really helpless because no-one could get to them. Everyone was really scared and they didn’t know what to do and it was really sad to see. These are all people that we grew up with and people that we see every day, like our neighbours.
‘There was a lot of people there – children, elderly people and disabled people; my family members, who thankfully made it out. But there are still a lot of people who are unaccounted for.’
Tamara went on: ‘My brother has a lot of school friends who are still wondering if their friends have made it out, they haven’t got in contact with them or heard anything. One of the girls lives on the top floor, which the police advised that if you were living on that floor that it is most likely that they haven’t made it.’
Samira added: ‘I think the speed of the fire was the most shocking thing for everyone, how quick it literally went from zero to 100. Like it was literally just the fourth floor and that was bad but it was really minor, and that building is really big and the whole building was gone – even before it hit 1am the whole building was in flames.
‘I saw people flying out of their balconies and windows. I saw a man who flew out of his window, I saw people screaming for help. We saw a lot of people jumping out that basically didn’t make it. It was from the eighth floor and up, and that kind of floor you wouldn’t really make it.’
A woman with six children who was attempting to escape from the 21st floor of the London tower block fire this morning got to the bottom to discover two of them were missing, it has been claimed
Tamara continued: ‘I had a family friend that was stuck all the way up till 5am but luckily she made it out and some others from her floor and the floors below made it out.
‘But there are people who were higher up that they just couldn’t get to because it just got out of control so quickly.
‘It was like a split second before the whole building was on fire. It started on one floor, then it took one side and then the whole building was on fire. There’s nothing you can do but watch things unfold in front of you.’
A man who lived on the 17th floor of the block, identified as Methrob, told LBC Radio: ‘I heard the fire trucks and so I was alerted that something was going on. There was no fire alarm in the building, we don’t have an integrated fire alarm system.
‘I went outside my house and I could smell the smoke. I looked out my window, I leaned over and I could see the fire blazing up. I woke up my auntie who was sleeping, it was about 1.15am, and we started to make our way down.
‘I warned a couple of my neighbours, the ones nearest to me, and we basically went as fast as we could.’
One of the many residents to be evacuated from the fire tries to reach somebody on the phone as others desperately sought to be reunited with missing loved ones
He said the fire was inside one apartment, but added the ‘real issue was when it caught fire to the cladding outside. That’s when I noticed the fire from outside when I looked out the window.
‘By the time that we got downstairs, the fire had gone all the way up and it was just about reaching our windows on the 17th floor.
‘The whole one side of the building was on fire. The cladding went up like a matchstick.’
Methrob said residents had been concerned about safety, adding that there had been warning ‘for over a year’.
Fabio Bebber wrote on Twitter: ‘More screams for help as the fire spreads to another side of the building.
‘We can see how quick the fire spreads via the external panels. It’s unbearable hearing someone screaming for their lives at #grenfelltower.’
Two women console each other (pictured) as the area surrounding the building in west London was cordoned off by police officers
Jamie Martin climbed through a window to escape the inferno. He told BBC Radio 4: ‘Bits of the building were falling off, I scalded my shin on a hot piece of metal.
‘I was shouting ‘Get out get out’ to people as I saw them and they were shouting back, ‘we can’t, the corridors are full of smoke’.
Actor and writer Tim Downie, who lives around 600 metres from the scene in Latimer Road, said he fears the block could collapse.
He said: ‘It’s horrendous. The whole building is engulfed in flames. It’s gone. It’s just a matter of time before this building collapses.
‘It’s the most terrifying thing I’ve ever seen. I just hope they have got everyone out.
Bits of debris, thought to be white cladding that was installed on the building last year as part of a £10million refurbishment, is seen falling from the building
The fire is said to have spread from the second floor to the roof of the enormous 120-flat block in just 15 minutes, with 200 firefighters struggling to bring it under control
The charred remains of hundreds of peoples homes are desperately doused in water by firefighters as they try to bring the raging blaze under control
Six hours after the fire was first reported to emergency services, it continues to burn despite the efforts of hundreds of firefighters on the scene
The fire is said to have spread from the second floor to the roof of the enormous 120-flat block in just 15 minutes, with 200 firefighters struggling to bring it under control
Residents in the burning tower were said to be evacuating and a number of people were treated for a ‘range of injuries,’ Metropolitan Police said
A photograph from ITV’s Good Morning Britain shows the building before it was set alight. Shown right is the tower as firefighters continued to battle the flames
A map shows the location of the tower block in west London. The surrounding area is densely populated with other houses and flats
‘The fire hadn’t reached the top of the block at that point,’ Wahabi said.
‘He said he had been told to stay inside, stay in one room together and put towels under the door. I told him to leave. He said he was going to come. Then I called him and he said there was too much smoke.’
She added: ‘The last time I saw him they were waving out the window, his wife and children. The last time I spoke to his wife, he was on the phone to the fire brigade.
‘I’ve not heard from them since, the phone is not going through, the landline isn’t going through. That was about 2:00am.’
A witness identified as Daniel told BBC Radio London that people on the upper floors were trapped as the flames rose higher and higher.
‘People have been burned,’ he said. ‘I have seen it with my own eyes. And I have seen people jump.’
Another survivor at the community centre, wearing shorts, a T-shirts and trainers and with a blanket draped around his shoulders, said he saved his own life with just moments to spare.
‘My neighbour’s smoke alarm went off and I thought he might have done some cooking,’ he said, giving only his first name of Eddie, 55.
‘I went into the bathroom and I got the towel and wet it and wrapped it around my head. I run out into the hallway, close the door behind me and ran for where I thought the fire exit was.
‘I didn’t find it. It was a matter of life and death – I thought, ‘If I’m in this for another five seconds, I’m a goner’.’
‘Then on the ground there was a fireman, he touched my leg and pulled me into where the fire stairwell was. You couldn’t see anything. I just ran down the stairs. There wasn’t that many people on the stairs.
‘Loads of people haven’t got out of the building.’
Abdul Hamid, 51, lives on the 16th floor lost everything he owned but counted himself lucky to be alive.
‘I have nothing. My passport was in there – it’s gone. I’m meant to be flying to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj. Now I’m homeless.’
Action group called for Grenfell Tower to be pulled down FOUR YEARS ago but say their warnings about appalling safety ‘fell on deaf ears’
An action group predicted the Grenfell Tower fire was an accident waiting to happen four years ago but claim their warnings fell on deaf ears.
The fire service confirmed this morning there had been a number of fatalities in the horrific blaze which was reported just after 1am today.
Grenfell Action Group said: ‘Watching breaking news about the Grenfell Tower fire catastrophe. Too soon to even guess at numbers of casualties and fatalities.
‘We have posted numerous warnings in recent years about the very poor fire safety standards at Grenfell Tower and elsewhere in Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC).
‘All our warnings fell on deaf ears. This was inevitable and just a matter of time.’
The group had been posting about their concerns of tower block’s safety regularly calling for it to be torn down before it went up in flames in the early hours of this morning in White City.
An action group predicted the Grenfell Tower fire was an accident waiting to happen four years ago but claim their warnings fell on deaf ears (pictured: the tower before the blaze)
A fire safety notice at Granfell Tower, where police confirmed there had been a number of fatalities as a result of the blaze
Chillingly, back in November, while addressing the managed by tenant managers Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO), the group wrote: ‘It is a truly terrifying thought but the Grenfell Action Group firmly believe that only a catastrophic event will expose the ineptitude and incompetence of our landlord, the KCTMO, and bring an end to the dangerous living conditions and neglect of health and safety legislation that they inflict upon their tenants and leaseholders.
‘We believe that the KCTMO are an evil, unprincipled, mini-mafia who have no business to be charged with the responsibility of looking after the every day management of large scale social housing estates and that their sordid collusion with the RBKC Council is a recipe for a future major disaster.
‘Unfortunately, the Grenfell Action Group have reached the conclusion that only an incident that results in serious loss of life of KCTMO residents will allow the external scrutiny to occur that will shine a light on the practices that characterise the malign governance of this non-functioning organisation.
‘We believe that the KCTMO have ensured their ongoing survival by the use of proxy votes at their Annual General Meeting that see them returned with a mandate of 98 percent in favour of the continuation of their inept and highly dangerous management of our homes.’
There is no suggestion that KCTMO are to blame for the fire and MailOnline contacted the landlords Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation, but nobody was immediately available to comment.
The planned drawings which show the refurbishment of existing Grenfell Tower including new external cladding and fenestration, alterations to plant room, reconfiguration of lower 4 levels to provide 7 new residential units, replacement nursery and boxing club facilities, external public realm works, redevelopment and change of use of existing garages to refuse collection area
Heroic firefighters shield themselves from the falling debris as they race to help people trapped inside the large building
Debris from the fire in the Grenfell Tower, in West London. The fire has been declared a major incident by the Mayor of London and several people are said to have died
A resident in another tower block looks on as thick plumes of smoke fill the air in west London following the devastating fire
Hundreds of firefighters were rushed to the scene in the early hours of this morning, however many of them were forced to watch on as the huge blaze stopped them reaching much of the tower
Firefighters tackling a huge inferno at a residential tower block in West London fear the 27-storey building could collapse
As residents flooded the streets outside the burning building, many spoke of members of their family or close neighbours being unaccounted for
Firefighters gather outside the building that went up in smoke today. Witnesses said the fire ‘escalated very quickly’ and there were people screaming for help from their windows
The fire is said to have spread from the second floor to the roof of the enormous 120-flat block in just 15 minutes, with 200 firefighters struggling to bring it under control
Commander Stuart Cundy, from the Metropolitan Police, said: ‘All the emergency services and other agencies continue to work together at the scene.
‘I can confirm there have been a number of fatalities and others receiving medical care. We will be soon making contact with next of kin.
‘Anyone who is concerned about loved ones in relation to the fire should contact Casualty Bureau which has been opened following the fire. If you do not get through immediately please do try again.’
Among those being evacuated was what a man described as a ‘heavily disabled woman’, who was being carried down the stairs by firefighters.
Mouna Elogbani, who lives on the 11th floor with her husband and three children, aged 13, 10 and two, said she got a phone call from a neighbour warning her that the block was alight.
She said: ‘I was in my home going to bed, It was around 1.30am and my children were asleep.
‘My friend called on the phone and told me that the building was on fire, it was coming towards our floor and we needed to get out.
‘I woke up my children and we carried them out of the flat – but when we opened the door to escape the flames burst into the house and we had to shut it again. We got out through a fire escape and down the stairs.’
According to the London Fire Brigade, 40 fire engines and 200 firefighters are working to put out the blaze, seen here in the early hours of this morning
The enormous building was scorched to cinders by the fire, which has been raging for hours since it was first reported
The smoke fills the sky above west London. Witnesses spoke of smelling smoke at about 1am, with reports that no fire alarm sounded after the blaze broke out
A large chunk of debris (shown) falls from the sky as residents gathered outside the building to try and find their loved ones
A police officer escorts a resident to safety (pictured) as debris fills the streets around the large building in west London
The huge fire could be seen from all over London, as the massive plume of smoke flied the skies above the capital city
‘I know that there are people trapped on the 21st, 22nd and 23rd floors and one of my neighbours has passed away.’
The 27-storey block, believed to contain around 120 flats, underwent a £10million refurbishment last year.
Mrs Elogbani said: ‘It was not safe anymore. They took away the security – it was no longer 100 per cent safe.
When asked about worries about how it would cope in a major fire she said: ‘I wouldn’t be surprised’. She said: ‘We’ve lost everything. I am feeling sick, shocked and angry’.
A woman resident said: ‘Some residents did escape. I heard some people shouting help from their windows from 20 floors. I saw them flashing their lights… and then they stopped.
‘I don’t know what happened – or if they are safe. It was really horrible.’
Schoolboy Omar Kalam, 11, was standing anxiously at the emergency service cordon with father Walid, 44. ‘My brother has friends and they live in there,’ he said. ‘I’m not sure if they are all right yet.’
Parents from nearby Kensington Aldridge Academy, where Omar attends, had been told the school was closed, his father said.
Residents who managed to escape sit on the pavement as they await news of what is going on. The cause of the fire is not yet known. Those who escaped said the fire started as a ‘minor incident’ but soon engulfed the whole building
Londoners watch on as the building goes up in flames, with emergency services packing the streets around the scene
An arm holding a cloth can be seen waving from a window of Grenfell Tower as smoke rises from a lower window. There are around 600 people living in the tower block, which has about 140 flats
One resident told the BBC he saw a helicopter circling the tower and getting close to a woman who was waving a flag outside her window but was not able to rescue her
Debris outside the Grenfell Tower after the fire. Those who have escaped are concerned about those who may be left inside, and an emergency number has been set up to help people locate their relatives
Grenfell Tower in Latimer Road, White City, is currently ‘lurching’ to one side after a ‘very, very severe fire’ broke out in the early hours of Wednesday morning, causing people to ‘beg for their lives’
Desperate residents are building ropes from sheets in an attempt to escape a huge inferno that has engulfed a tower block in west London
The entire block has been completely covered up by the massive flames on all sides with thick plumes of smoke filling the air
Witnesses said that the acrid smell was ‘horrendous’ as the inferno gutted all the windows and swept across the entire building
The fire continued to burn as the sun rose on Wednesday with long plumes of smoke filling the air over west London
Several people are being treated for a ‘range of injuries’ including illness from smoke inhalation. One neighbour said he believed someone had jumped from the block
The fire has spread from the second floor to the roof of the enormous towering block, with 200 firefighters struggling to bring it under control.
Nassima Boutrig, who lives opposite the building, said she was awakened by sirens and smoke so thick that it filled her home as well.
‘We saw the people screaming,’ she said. ‘A lot of people said ‘Help, help, help’. The fire brigade could only help downstairs. It was fire up, up, up. They couldn’t stop the fire.’
Boutrig said her friend’s brother, wife and children lived in the building and that her friend was waiting to find out if they were OK.
Flatowners in their pyjamas have been evacuated as police are pushing people away from the area for fear the block will collapse due to ‘chunks’ of debris flying off from the tower.
The cordon around the block has been pushed back by police and homes surrounding it evacuated amid fears that the building could collapse in the densely populated area of London.
Police, 40 fire engines and helicopters rushed to the scene as horrifying pictures emerged on social media showing giant flames licking up the side of the block.
Fire crews from North Kensington, Kensington, Hammersmith and Paddington and from surrounding fire stations are in attendance. The cause of the fire is not known at this stage.
Tim Downie, who lives a few hundred feet from the building, told Sky News: ‘The acrid smell is just horrendous. The building has pretty much burnt out, there are just a few bits that are still not burning.
‘Every single window is gutted. There is debris falling off it. The heat was extraordinary. The fire has wrapped itself around the block. People on the street said it started on the fourth floor and spread all the way up and around.
The London Fire Brigade said: ‘Crews continue to work hard at tower block fire in North Kensington. Fire is from 2nd to top floor of 27 storey building.’
Firemen were inside trying to get people out of the building, which was built in 1974 and part of the Lancaster West Estate.
Terrified residents in their pyjamas have been evacuated from the residential block as police are warning people to stay away for fear it might collapse
Witnesses spoke of helicopters circling above the blazing tower block for hours since the fire started at 1am on Wednesday
The windows were seen burning bright orange as massive plumes of black smoke filled the air
The ‘horrendous’ blaze has struck the 27-storey Grenfell Tower in Latimer Road, White City, in the early hours of Wednesday morning
Residents have been asked to shine torches and phones out of their windows so the fire brigade knew there was someone who needed rescuing.
By 3am, at least one torch was still shining from the block, which was ablaze on two sides as hundreds of concerned neighbours gathered near the building to watch and try to contact those inside.
Jody Martin said he got to the scene just as the first fire engine was arriving. He told the BBC: ‘I grabbed an axe from the fire truck, it looked like there was a bit of confusion about what to do.
‘I ran around the building looking for a fire escape and couldn’t see any noticeable fire escapes around the building. A lot of debris falling down.
‘I eventually gained entry on to the second floor, and once I got to the corridor I realised there was so much smoke there.’
He added that given the thickness of the smoke, he would be surprised if anyone could have left the building without assistance.
‘I watched one person falling out, I watched another woman holding her baby out the window… hearing screams, I was yelling everyone to get down and they were saying ‘We can’t leave our apartments, the smoke is too bad on the corridors’,’ he said.
Local councillor Nick Paget-Brown described the blaze as a ‘very, very severe fire’. He told Sky News: ‘Clearly it’s an absolutely devastating fire.
‘Several hundred would have been in there. It’s a question of establishing how many people were in there at the time of the fire.
A group of people trying to help out police were forced back because they were walking towards the burning building
Police and 40 fire engines have rushed to the scene as hundreds of concerned residents gathered outside to try to contact their loved ones
Fire crews from North Kensington, Kensington, Hammersmith and Paddington and from surrounding fire stations are in attendance. The cause of the fire is not known at this stage, the London Fire Brigade said in a statement
‘I’m really not in any position to answer any questions about the structure.
‘Clearly there’s a lot more work to do to evacuate the building and to establish how safe it is.’
Fire crews from north Kensington, Kensington, Hammersmith and Paddington and surrounding stations were at the scene with the fire burning from the second to the top floor.
The cause of the fire was not known at this stage, London Fire Brigade said.
Fabio Bebber wrote on Twitter: ‘More screams for help as the fire spreads to another side of the building.
‘We can see how quick the fire spreads via the external panels. It’s unbearable hearing someone screaming for their lives at #grenfelltower.’
One neighbour, Derry Glover, told MailOnline he first heard sirens at around 1am. He added that he believed someone had jumped from the building.
The London Fire Brigade received multiple calls to the fire which spread from the second floor to the top floor of the 27 floor building.
Assistant Commissioner Dan Daly said: ‘Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus are working extremely hard in very difficult conditions to tackle this fire. This is a large and very serious incident and we have deployed numerous resources and specialist appliances.’
‘The Brigade was called to the fire at 12.54am and is still at the scene. Fire crews from North Kensington, Kensington, Hammersmith and Paddington and from surrounding fire stations are in attendance. The cause of the fire is not known at this stage,’ the brigade said in a statement.
A group of people trying to help out police were forced back because they were walking towards the burning building. A witness told BBC Radio: ‘There are parents and kids in pajamas waiting outside.”
The residential block has hundreds of residents – two of whom are being treated for illness from smoke inhalation
Residents still in the building had been told by firefighters to line the bottom of their doors to stop smoke getting in. Meanwhile, police conducted a roll call of flats to work out who might still be trapped inside
One panicked resident wrote on Twitter: ‘I’m stuck in this block!!! Can’t leave my house because I’ll die from the smoke’
Hundreds of firefighters are working to try to fight the blaze, but are still struggling to get it under control
Residents still in the building had been told by firefighters to line the bottom of their doors to stop smoke getting in. Meanwhile, police conducted a roll call of flats to work out who might still be trapped inside.
George Clarke, the presenter of Amazing Spaces, told Radio 5 Live: ‘I was in bed and heard ‘beep, beep, beep’ and thought, ‘I’ll get up and run downstairs as quickly as I could’.
‘I thought it might be a car alarm outside and saw the glow through the windows. I’m getting covered in ash, that’s how bad it is. I’m 100 metres away and I’m absolutely covered in ash. It’s so heartbreaking, I’ve seen someone flashing their torches at the top level and they obviously can’t get out.
‘The guys are doing an incredible job to try and get people out that building, but it’s truly awful.’
Clarita Ghavimi, 66, who lives on seventh floor, said she was told to leave the building amid fears it might collapse.
‘Every single window is gutted. There is debris falling off it. The heat was extraordinary. The fire has wrapped itself around the block’ a witness said
Police have continued to widen the cordons around the tower for fear that it will collapse onto people
‘At 12.30am I heard a loud alarm and I woke up,’ she told MailOnline.
‘Then I heard a voice on the speaker saying ‘You need to get out, the building’s going to collapse.’ I went to the door and my flat started smoking so I grabbed a towel and made it damp to stop the smoke.’
She added: ‘When I opened my door two men carried me down the stairs. I am concerned that my son doesn’t think that I’m safe. I’ve tried to get in contact with him but I can’t remember his number. I feel like I have some smoke inhalation.’
Ms Ghavimi explained that she only has her bus pass on her. ‘My passport, everything is in there.’
Shocked bystanders filmed the blaze from the ground, and shouted at trapped people waving from their windows to ‘cover their mouths’.
An eye witness said: ‘There are about 15 fire engines but are struggling to get in and out because there is just one narrow road in and one narrow road out’
Desperate residents trapped high in the tower have built ropes from sheets (left) in an attempt to reach the ground
Shocked bystanders prayed for those trapped inside as they spoke of helicopters flying over the blaze for ‘nearly two hours’
‘Cover your mouth with a wet towel,’ they yelled. ‘Don’t panic. It started on the fourth floor or something. There are people in their windows, putting their heads out.’
An eye witness said: ‘There are about 15 fire engines but are struggling to get in and out because there is just one narrow road in and one narrow road out.’
Another added: ‘Sirens flying up and down the road and police helicopter hovering for nearly 2 hours has been the noise tonight. Terrible.’
Tim Donwie wrote: ‘Raging fire near Latimer Road. Whole block of 24 floors up in flames. People still trapped inside. Horrendous.’
One resident wrote on Twitter: ‘I’m stuck in this block!!! Can’t leave my house because I’ll die from the smoke.’
Celeste Thomas added: ‘Police have moved everyone back out of direct sight but can hear cracking and debris falling.
The roads outside the residential block, which has 120 flats, were filled with panicked people who reported hearing people screaming inside
Police and the London Fire Brigade have rushed to the scene of the fire in West London
‘Police have been asking everyone to go inside. Fire spread and not yet showing signs of coming under control.’
A third added: ’24 storeys burning in West London area. All floors and columns burning.’
Met Police said in a statement: ‘Police were called at 1.16am on Wednesday, 14 June to reports of a large fire at a block of flats in the Lancaster West Estate, W11.
‘Officers, the London Fire Brigade and the London Ambulance Service are currently at the scene. An evacuation process is underway.
‘At this stage we are aware of two people being treated at the scene for smoke inhalation. We await an update as to whether there are any further injuries.
‘The Local Authority has been informed. Cordons are in place and it is advised that the estate and surrounding area is avoided.’