A huge fire has engulfed a large block of flats in London, with many people thought to be trapped in their homes. The fire brigade has said there are “a number of fatalities”.
Hundreds of firefighters were sent to 27-storey Grenfell Tower in north Kensington, as large plumes of smoke billowed above the capital after the blaze broke out in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Witnesses spoke of “terrifying” scenes, with some residents suggesting they heard no alarm go off when the fire began. At least 30 people have been taken to five hospitals.
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The newsletter reportedly said: “Our longstanding ‘stay put’ policy stays in force until you are told otherwise. This means that (unless there is a fire in your flat or in the hallway outside your flat) you should stay inside your flat.
“This is because Grenfell was designed according to rigorous fire safety standards. Also, the new front doors for each flat can withstand a fire for up to 30 minutes, which gives plenty of time for the fire brigade to arrive.”
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.”
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.
“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.”
Jody Martin said he got to the scene just as the first fire engine was arriving at Grenfell Tower, in Latimer Road.
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.
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