Heart breaking moment eye witness breaks down describing fire
- 7 years ago
SIX dead and dozens missing as massive blaze 'sparked by faulty fridge' engulfs 27-storey tower block in just 15 minutes: Residents hurl themselves from windows while others make ropes from sheets - amid fears the building will COLLAPSE
Six confirmed dead and death toll will rise after huge inferno broke out at a residential tower block in London
Dozens including children and elderly still missing after fire engulfed Grenfell Tower in White City at 1am
Many residents believed to still be trapped inside the 27-storey building as it teeters on the brink of collapse
Residents were seen throwing themselves and their children out of windows to avoid being burned to death
More than 600 residents desperately tried to escape the flames as the fire broke out in the middle of the night
Surivors claimed there was no working fire alarm, sprinklers failed and the only staircase out was blocked
The London Ambulance Service said 50 people have been rushed to five different hospitals around the capital
Grenfell's residents warned landlord KCTMO about 'appalling' fire safety and say refurb contributed to blaze
Send your photos and videos of the fire at Grenfell Tower in White City to mailonlinepictures@dailymail.co.uk
By Ekin Karasin and Alexander Robertson and Isobel Frodsham For Mailonline
Six people have been confirmed dead and at least 50 injured after an inferno believed to have started when a fridge exploded ripped through a 27-storey west London 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.
The trapped, some of whom are still inside, were heard begging for their lives while waving white towels, torches and mobile phones to attract the attention of the 200 firefighters who started storming the building within six minutes of the 999 call.
Those who managed to flee said it was 'like hell on earth' inside and claimed there was no working fire alarm, sprinklers failed and the only staircase out was blocked.
Grenfell's own community action group called for the tower to be pulled down four years ago over 'appalling' fire safety in the building and said today their repeated warnings to landlord Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO) fell on 'deaf ears'.
KCTMO completed a £10million refurbishment last year and the new cladding encasing the block originally built in 1974 'went up like a match', one resident has said.
One White City resident called Tamara told the BBC: 'There were people just throwing their kids out saying “Save my children". Within another 15 minutes the whole thing was up in flames and there were still people at their windows shouting "Help me". You could see the fire going into their houses and engulfing the last room that they were in.’
RMayor of London Sadiq Khan has also demanded to know why Grenfell residents were told to 'stay put' in their flats for up to an hour in the event of a fire.
Dany Cotton, Commissioner of the London Fire Brigade, said there had been 'a number of fatalities' and structural engineers are checking the stability of the building, which appears to have warped.
London Ambulance Service said 50 people are in hospital and paramedics are treating many more walking wounded for smoke inhalation and minor burns.
One witness said he saw several people jumping to their deaths from all floors to escape the fire.
A survivor broke down on live TV as he said his neighbour on the fourth floor had confessed that his 'fridge had exploded' before fire swamped the building - but the fire service told MailOnline it is too early to confirm the cause
Samira Lamrani, 38, said: 'He was just beside himself. He was just as surprised at how quickly the fire spread as anybody else.
'I could hear him saying that he contacted the emergency services immediately and they reassured him everything would be under control within a short period of time, and obviously it wasn't.'
Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, said questions will need to be answered over the safety of tower blocks in the capital as a result of the fire.
London Ambulance Service said 50 people have been rushed to five hospitals around the capital, while at least one resident is still stuck inside the block on the 11th floor, with firefighters desperately trying to reach him.
Those in the upper floors were seen flashing torches in a bid to call for help, tying bedding together to create makeshift ropes.
Panicked residents trapped high in the enormous tower were heard screaming for
Six confirmed dead and death toll will rise after huge inferno broke out at a residential tower block in London
Dozens including children and elderly still missing after fire engulfed Grenfell Tower in White City at 1am
Many residents believed to still be trapped inside the 27-storey building as it teeters on the brink of collapse
Residents were seen throwing themselves and their children out of windows to avoid being burned to death
More than 600 residents desperately tried to escape the flames as the fire broke out in the middle of the night
Surivors claimed there was no working fire alarm, sprinklers failed and the only staircase out was blocked
The London Ambulance Service said 50 people have been rushed to five different hospitals around the capital
Grenfell's residents warned landlord KCTMO about 'appalling' fire safety and say refurb contributed to blaze
Send your photos and videos of the fire at Grenfell Tower in White City to mailonlinepictures@dailymail.co.uk
By Ekin Karasin and Alexander Robertson and Isobel Frodsham For Mailonline
Six people have been confirmed dead and at least 50 injured after an inferno believed to have started when a fridge exploded ripped through a 27-storey west London 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.
The trapped, some of whom are still inside, were heard begging for their lives while waving white towels, torches and mobile phones to attract the attention of the 200 firefighters who started storming the building within six minutes of the 999 call.
Those who managed to flee said it was 'like hell on earth' inside and claimed there was no working fire alarm, sprinklers failed and the only staircase out was blocked.
Grenfell's own community action group called for the tower to be pulled down four years ago over 'appalling' fire safety in the building and said today their repeated warnings to landlord Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO) fell on 'deaf ears'.
KCTMO completed a £10million refurbishment last year and the new cladding encasing the block originally built in 1974 'went up like a match', one resident has said.
One White City resident called Tamara told the BBC: 'There were people just throwing their kids out saying “Save my children". Within another 15 minutes the whole thing was up in flames and there were still people at their windows shouting "Help me". You could see the fire going into their houses and engulfing the last room that they were in.’
RMayor of London Sadiq Khan has also demanded to know why Grenfell residents were told to 'stay put' in their flats for up to an hour in the event of a fire.
Dany Cotton, Commissioner of the London Fire Brigade, said there had been 'a number of fatalities' and structural engineers are checking the stability of the building, which appears to have warped.
London Ambulance Service said 50 people are in hospital and paramedics are treating many more walking wounded for smoke inhalation and minor burns.
One witness said he saw several people jumping to their deaths from all floors to escape the fire.
A survivor broke down on live TV as he said his neighbour on the fourth floor had confessed that his 'fridge had exploded' before fire swamped the building - but the fire service told MailOnline it is too early to confirm the cause
Samira Lamrani, 38, said: 'He was just beside himself. He was just as surprised at how quickly the fire spread as anybody else.
'I could hear him saying that he contacted the emergency services immediately and they reassured him everything would be under control within a short period of time, and obviously it wasn't.'
Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, said questions will need to be answered over the safety of tower blocks in the capital as a result of the fire.
London Ambulance Service said 50 people have been rushed to five hospitals around the capital, while at least one resident is still stuck inside the block on the 11th floor, with firefighters desperately trying to reach him.
Those in the upper floors were seen flashing torches in a bid to call for help, tying bedding together to create makeshift ropes.
Panicked residents trapped high in the enormous tower were heard screaming for