Fire engulfed a 24-storey housing block in central London in the early hours on Wednesday, killing at least six people and injuring at least 50 others in an inferno that trapped residents as they slept.
Flames raced through the high-rise Grenfell Tower block of apartments in the north Kensington area after taking hold around 1 a.m. and witnesses reported many residents desperately calling for help from windows of upper floors.
More than 200 firefighters, backed up by 40 fire engines, fought for hours to try to bring the blaze, one of the biggest seen in central London in recent years, under control.
In late morning, London police said six people had been killed and the death toll was likely to rise.
Fire-fighting crews still had to reach the top four floors of the building where several hundred people live in 130 apartments.
The cause of the fire was not immediately known.
The block had recently undergone an 8.7 million pound ($11.08 million) refurbishment of the exterior, which included new external cladding, replacement windows and curtain wall facades.
Plumes of black smoke billowed high into the air over the British capital for hours after the blaze broke out. Residents rushed to escape through smoke-filled corridors after being woken up by the smell of burning.
London Fire Brigade said the fire engulfed all floors from the second to the top of the 24-storey block. There were reports that some residents threw themselves out of windows to escape the flames.
"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.
SAFETY QUESTIONS
London mayor Sadiq Khan said the fire raised questions over safety of high-rise blocks like Grenfell Tower. The BBC reported that a political deal between the government of Prime Minister Theresa May and a small Northern Irish party could be delayed because of the aftermath of the fire.
More than 10 hours after the fire broke out London fire brigade said it was still working to bring the fire under control, though the building was not in danger of collapse.
Firefighters rescued large numbers of people from the 43-year-old block, a low rent housing estate which rubs alongside up-scale parts of the Kensington area and highlights the disparities of wealth in the British capital.
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."
"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."
"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.
RESIDENTS' CONCERN
Local residents said they had warned repeatedly over fire safety in the block.
London's mayor Khan said questions needed to be answered over the safety of tower blocks after some residents said they had been advised they should stay in their flats in the event of a fire.
A local residents association had previously warned it was worried about the risk of a serious fire in the block.
"These questions are really important questions that need to be answered," Khan said.
"What we can't have is a situation where people's safety is put at risk because of bad advice being given or if it is the case, as has been alleged, of tower blocks not being properly serviced or maintained."
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 recently renovated the tower.
"They cladded the outside and insulated the inside," Sha said. "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 it was focusing on supporting the rescue and relief operation. It said the causes of the fire would be fully investigated.
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.
Reuters
Wed Jun 14 2017
London Fire Brigade said the fire engulfed all floors from the second to the top of the 24-storey block.
Manja Man pengendali baharu Kelantan FC
Bekas pemain pertahanan itu yakin Kelantan memiliki bakat muda yang mampu dibentuk menjadi pemain bernilai bagi pasukan kembali digeruni.
10 peratus daripada 1,900 premis di Selangor tidak patuhi piawaian FC
Selain tidak melaksanakan latihan kebakaran, premis berkenaan juga didapati tidak akur dari segi piawaian pengubahsuaian bangunan.
IMF semak naik unjuran KDNK Malaysia kepada 4.4 peratus bagi 2024
IMF menerusi Tinjauan Ekonomi Dunia terbaharunya juga menjangkakan pertumbuhan KDNK kekal pada 4.4 peratus dalam 2025.
Lelaki ditemui mati dengan 10 tetakan, seorang dicekup
Mangsa yang berbangsa Kayan, berusia 57 tahun, disyaki diserang menggunakan objek tajam.
Parti politik India perhebat dekati pengundi, bagi pusingan pertama pilihan raya kebangsaan
Modi berkata kerajaannya terus berusaha untuk pembangunan ekonomi wilayah timur laut itu.
Piala Asia B-23: Kesilapan individu hukum Harimau Muda berdepan Uzbekistan
Skuad negara ketinggalan di awal permainan berpunca kesilapan Muhamad Syahir Bashah yang menjatuhkan Ruslanbek Jiyanov dalam kotak penalti.
Pindah kerja atau kekal, gaji bukan sebab utama bagi pekerja Malaysia - Kaji selidik
Keinginan untuk mencari cabaran baharu sebagai sebab utama mengapa mereka memilih untuk berpindah tempat kerja di seluruh Asia.
Risiko konflik jejaskan jumlah kapal, pelayaran lebih lama pada separuh tahun pertama
Laluan Tanjung Harapan di Afrika menokok 4,000 batu kepada jarak pelayaran dan tambahan dua minggu masa transit.
Trafik internet Malaysia meningkat enam peratus pada suku pertama 2024 - Cloudflare
Malaysia catat peningkatan trafik internet keseluruhan sebanyak enam peratus pada suku pertama 2024 daripada suku keempat 2023.
Detik 100 hari ke Olimpik Paris, prospek negara masih samar
Genap 100 hari, atlet elit dari seluruh dunia dan ratusan ribu peminat sukan bakal berkumpul di Sungai Seine, Paris untuk upacara perasmian Sukan Olimpik 2024.
London memperingati ulang tahun ketiga tragedi kebakaran Grenfell Tower
Ia merupakan kehilangan nyawa terbesar dalam kebakaran di Britain sejak Perang Dunia kedua, meninggalkan trauma kepada penduduknya.
[INFOGRAFIK] Berapa banyak lagi bangunan guna lapisan pelindung tidak selamat?
Katanya, cladding yang dibuat daripada polyfoam tidak sepatutnya digunakan di mana-mana bangunan dan ia merupakan kesalahan di bawah Undang-Undang Kecil Bangunan Seragam 1984.
Bangunan KWSP Jalan Gasing terbakar
Satu kebakaran dilaporkan berlaku di bangunan Kumpulan Wang Simpanan Pekerja di Jalan Gasing.
Korban kebakaran Grenfell Tower meningkat 30 orang
Pihak penyiasat telah mengenal pasti lokasi tercetusnya kebakaran itu dan berdasarkan siasatan awal, ia bukan disengajakan.
Penyanyi Adele sertai perhimpunan mengenang mangsa kebakaran Grenfell Tower
Adele hadir untuk menyertai perhimpunan pada malam Rabu berdekatan dengan blok menara London yang telah musnah dijilat api.
Jamie Oliver tawar makanan percuma kepada mangsa kebakaran Grenfell Tower
Chef terkenal antarabangsa, Jamie Oliver menghulurkan bantuan dan sokongan kepada berpuluh-puluh mangsa yang terlibat dalam kebakaran Grenfell Tower, North Kensington di London, semalam.
Keluarga Malaysia tawar penginapan untuk mangsa kebakaran London
Sebuah keluarga Malaysia yang menetap di London telah menawarkan penginapan sementara untuk mangsa kebakaran Grenfell Tower, North Kensington, London.
Kebakaran London: Bomba sahkan ada kematian, bangunan dikhuatiri runtuh
Beberapa orang disahkan terbunuh dalam kejadian kebakaran di pangsapuri Grenfell Tower, London pada Rabu, kata Pesuruhjaya Bomba London, Dany Cotton.
Menara 27 tingkat di London terbakar
Satu kebakaran besar berlaku di Grenfell Tower, iaitu menara apartmen kediaman 27 tingkat di Latimer Road, Barat London.