London Fire – Several Grenfell Tower residents dead as blaze rips through 24-storey apartment block.
People who escaped the fire at the 24-storey Grenfell Tower in north Kensington spoke of others trapped and screaming for help, with some holding children from windows and others jumping from upper floors.
London Fire Commissioner Dany Cotton said there had been a ‘number of fatalities’ but could not say how many due to the size and complexity of the building.
She told reporters at the scene: ‘This is an unprecedented incident. In my 29 years of being a firefighter, I have never ever seen anything of this scale.’
Pictures from the scene showed flames engulfing the block and a plume of smoke visible across the capital, while others showed residents looking out of windows in the block.
The leader of Kensington and Chelsea Borough Nick Paget-Brown said ‘several hundred’ people would have been in the block when the fire broke out.
Actor and writer Tim Downie, who lives around 600 metres from the scene in Latimer Road, told the Press Association he feared 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.
