London residential tower blaze claims 12 lives

LONDON: A huge blaze on Wednesday engulfed a 24- storey residential tower block in west London housing over 100 families, killing at least 12 people and injuring 74 others, with police saying the death toll in the tragedy could rise further. The fire at Grenfell Tower on the Lancaster West Estate in Latimer Road was reported at 01:16 local time. About 600 people are believed to have been inside the tower's 120 flats when the blaze ripped through the building. The fire was so sprawling that a heavy deployment 40 fire engines and 200 firefighters had to be made at the spot. "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," PTI quoted Commander Stuart Cundy, of the Metropolitan Police as saying. He said it was likely to be some time before police could identify the victims, BBC reported. The 24-storey block, which is still on fire, looks at risk of collapsing, it said. Around 200 firefighters, 40 fire trucks and 20 ambulance crews were at the scene at the height of the blaze. The firefighters are still on the scene tackling the burning block and a structural engineer is on the site to ensure the building is structurally sound. The National Health Service said a total of 74 people are being treated in hospital with 20 of those critically injured. Officials said the block had just undergone a 10.3 million pound refurbishment. Firefighters rescued "large numbers", but London Mayor Sadiq Khan said "a lot" of people were unaccounted for. Eyewitnesses reported seeing people trapped inside the burning building screaming for help and shouting for their children to be saved. People screamed for help as the fire took hold of the building. Some residents were seen using bedsheets to make their escape from the tower block. As fire-fighters fought the blaze, witnesses said a baby was caught by members of the public after being dropped from the window of the 9th floor. "This is an unprecedented incident. In my 29 years of being a firefighter, I have never ever seen anything of this scale," London Fire Brigade chief Dany Cotton told reporters. "Extensive cordons remain in place and a number of nearby residents have been evacuated as a precaution. The A40 is closed in both directions. We kindly ask that the public stay away from the area," Cundy said. The fire is thought to have started because of a faulty refrigerator on the 3rd or 4th floor soon after midnight and destroyed flat after flat. However, the Met Police has said it will take some time before they are in a position to confirm the cause of the fire. The area around Grenfell Tower is home to a large number of Muslims. Many were awake at the time the fire broke out having their early morning meal before beginning the daily fast for the holy month of Ramzan. The survivors, whose belongings are presumed to have been destroyed, gathered in the nearby Rugby Portobello community centre where they were given water, clothes and blankets. Cause of fire not known yet:  As per foreign media reports, the cause of fire is not known yet. Though foreign media quoted Assistant Commissioner Dan Daly sayying, “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 at 0054 and is still at the scene. Fire crews from North Kensington, Kensington, Hammersmith and Paddington and from surrounding fire stations are in attendance. As per the eye-witnesses present at the spot, people on fire jumped off from the windows of the high-rise building in order to save their lives. More details are awaited.

#WATCH: Fire engulfs 27-storey tower block in Latimer Road, west London. 40 fire engines & 200 firefighters at the spot. pic.twitter.com/OeRK7P33g9

— ANI (@ANI_news) June 14, 2017

  (With PTI inputs)