London - Fire engulfed a 24-storey block
of flats in central London on Wednesday, killing some people,
injuring at least 50 more and trapping some residents asleep
inside the towering inferno.
Flames licked up the sides of the block in the north
Kensington area as 200 firefighters, backed up by 40 fire
engines, fought the blaze for hours.
Plumes of black and grey smoke billowed high into the air
over the British capital hours after the blaze broke out at the
Grenfell Tower where several hundred people live.
Residents rushed to escape through smoke-filled corridors in
the housing block after being woken up by the smell of burning.
Some said no fire alarm sounded.
Witnesses said they saw trapped residents desperately
shouting for help from windows on upper floors as flames
enveloped the building.
Flames and smoke billow as firefighters deal with a serious fire in a tower block at Latimer Road in West London. Picture: Toby Melville/Reuters
London Fire Brigade said the fire engulfed all floors from
the second to the top of the block which contained 130
apartments.
"In my 29 years of being a fire fighter, I have never ever
seen anything of this scale," London Fire Brigade Commissioner
Dany Cotton told reporters
"I am very sad to confirm that there have been a number of
fatalities, I cannot confirm the number at this time due to the
size and complexity of this building."
More than 50 taken to hospital
London Ambulance Service said more than 50 people had been
taken to hospital. A witness told Reuters she feared not all the
residents had escaped the fire. Some were evacuated in their
pyjamas.
"I looked through the spy hole and I could see smoke
everywhere and the neighbours are all there. There's a fireman
shouting 'get down the stairs'," one of the block's residents,
Michael Paramasivan, told BBC radio. "It was an inferno."
A man on a bicycle stops to take photographs close to the scene of a serious fire in a tower block at Latimer Road in West London. Picture: Toby Melville/Reuters
"As we went past the fourth floor it was completely thick
black smoke. As we’ve gone outside I’m looking up at the block
and it was just going up. It was like pyrotechnics. It was just
unbelievable how quick it was burning."
The cause of the fire, which broke out just before 1 am (0000 GMT), was not known, the Fire Brigade said.
Residents said repairs had been made recently to the
exterior of the block.
Ash Sha, 30, who witnessed the fire and has an aunt in the
building who managed to escape from the second floor, said the
local council had renovated the tower.
"One year ago the council renovated the building both
externally and internally," Sha said.
"They cladded the outside and insulated the inside. The
insulated material is very similar to sponge so it crumbles in
your hand. This was just done to tart it up and match the nearby
building."
The local council of Kensington and Chelsea, which owns the
block, said its focus was on supporting the rescue and relief
operation. It said the causes of the fire would be fully
investigated.
A police officer helps to evacuate a local resident from close to the scene of a serious fire in a tower block at Latimer Road in West London. Picture: Neil Hall/Reuters
More than 20 ambulance crews were at the scene. London Mayor
Sadiq Khan said a "major incident" had been declared. Police
closed the A40, a major road leading out of west London, while
some parts of London's underground train network were closed as
a precaution.
"There was bits of building falling off all around me, I
scalded my shin on a hot piece of metal that had fallen off the
building," said Jodie Martin, who lives close to the building
and sought to save people from the fire.
"I was just screaming at people: 'Get out, get out' and they
were screaming back at me: 'We can't, the corridors are full of
smoke'," he told BBC Radio.