June 14th, 2017 | Updated on March 2nd, 2024
SIX dead and dozens missing as massive blaze ‘sparked by faulty fridge’ engulfs 27-storey tower block in just 15 minutes. Scotland Yard says it expects the death toll to rise amid claims dozens including children and the elderly are still missing after fire engulfed Grenfell Tower in White City at 1am today. Petrified residents were seen throwing themselves and their children out of windows to avoid being burned to death – others made makeshift ropes by tying sheets together. But a baby tossed from the ‘ninth or 10th floor’ of the building housing 600 people was caught by a member of the public and survived with only broken bones and bruises, a witness has said.
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More than 200 firefighters are fighting a massive blaze at a bunch of flats in west London, with reports suggesting people are trapped in their homes.
According to reports,45 engines rushed to Grenfell Tower on the Lancaster West Estate, North Kensington, shortly after 1.15am.Police said a “number of people are being treated for a number of injuries”, including two for smoke inhalation, as pictures from the scene showed flames engulfing most of the block.
Eyewitnesses reported that there are 120 flats in the building and people were screaming for help. Whereas some residents did something unusual using towels and different ways to save themselves. The people who were inside were told they must not panic and cover their mouths with wet towels as they made their escape.
Stuart Crighton, London Ambulance Service assistant director of operations, said: “We have sent a number of resources to the scene including our hazardous area response team and over 20 ambulance crews. “Our priority (is) to get people to safety and ensure they receive the medical help as quickly as possible.
“Our initial priority is to assess the level and nature of injuries and ensure those in the most need are treated first and taken to the hospital.”London mayor Sadiq Khan tweeted: “Major incident declared at Grenfell Tower in Kensington” and urged people to follow London Fire Brigade on Twitter. Reo, who lives about 300 metres away from the building, was in his kitchen when the fire broke began.
The tower block is clearly visible and is still burning, its top floors emerging from the smoke and flames as a blacked shell. Grenfell Tower is part of a large council estate and residents from surrounding walkups have also been evacuated, some with suitcases, pets and sleeping children.
Seeing such horrifying pictures would even panic us than how much the people who were inside must have panicked. We just Pray everyone is safe down there and hope the harm caused by fire do not cause much casualties and loss of life.
Grenfell Tower blaze in pictures
The trapped, some of whom are still inside, were heard begging for their lives while waving white towels, torches and mobile phones
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
Several people have been confirmed dead after a huge inferno broke out at a residential tower block in West London
A man looks from a window as smoke pours from a fire that has engulfed the 27-storey Grenfell Tower in west London
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 heat was said to be so intense that firefighters were unable to get close to the building, which was built in 1974 – they took shifts to rush the building because they were using oxygen tanks
Firefighters and paramedics work on someone pulled from the burning building today – but many are feared to be inside
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
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
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
Two women console each other (pictured) as the area surrounding the building in west London was cordoned off by police officers
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
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
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
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
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
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
The huge fire could be seen from all over London, as the massive plume of smoke flied the skies above the capital city
Londoners watch on as the building goes up in flames, with emergency services packing the streets around the scene
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
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
Traffic comes to a stop as huge fire breaks out in west London
Trapped residents use blankets as rope to escape burning tower
Eye witness says ‘smoke is everywhere and fire is out of control’
Flashing lights seen coming from tower block engulfed in flames
London Fire Brigade rush to the scene of huge blaze in West London
Screams heard as west London tower block is engulfed in flames
Source: dailymail.co.uk, telegraph.co.uk,
