At least 30 injured in London tower blaze

LONDON: A massive fire ripped through a 27-storey apartment block in west London in the early hours of Wednesday, police and fire services said.

Witnesses could hear screaming from the upper floors as the flames rose and one desperate resident could be seen waving a white cloth.
Police said they were evacuating the block and "a number of people are being treated for a range of injuries" including two for smoke inhalation.

At least 30 people were injured in the fire, the emergency services said. "We can confirm that we have taken 30 patients to five London hospitals following the incident," Stuart Crichton, assistant director of operations at the London Ambulance Service said, adding that more than 20 ambulance crews as well as a "hazardous area response team" were at the scene.

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A number of people have been killed. "At this time 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," Dany Cotton, Commissioner of the London Fire Brigade told reporters.

Frantic families at the scene attempted to call their loved ones stuck inside and were being directed by police to a nearby restaurant where some of the injured were being treated.

The fire brigade said 40 fire engines and 200 firefighters had been called to the blaze in Grenfell Tower, which has 120 flats.
"Fire is from 2nd to top floor of 27 storey building," the fire service said on Twitter.



The ambulance service said it had sent more than 20 ambulance crews to the scene. "Fire is from 2nd to top floor of 27 storey building," the fire service said on Twitter. Firefighters at the scene said they had managed to evacuate residents up to the 11th floor.
Police were also clearing out nearby buildings because of fears about falling debris.

"Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus are working extremely hard in very difficult conditions to tackle this fire," London Fire Brigade assistant commissioner Dan Daly said. "This is a large and very serious incident and we have deployed numerous resources and specialist appliances," he said.

London mayor Sadiq Khan tweeted: "Major incident declared at Grenfell Tower". Actor and writer Tim Downie, who lives nearby, 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".

Major incident declared at Grenfell Tower in Kensington. 40 fire engines & 200 firefighters at the scene - follow @LondonFire for updates.

— Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) June 14, 2017

Police said in a statement they were called at 1:16am (0016 GMT) "to reports of a large fire at a block of flats in the Lancaster West Estate".
The apartment block was built in 1974. Local residents had warned a year ago about a potential fire risk caused by rubbish being allowed to accumulate during improvement works.



"This matter is of particular concern as there is only one entry and exit to Grenfell Tower during the improvement works," read a blog post by the Grenfell Action Group. "The potential for a fire to break out in the communal area on the walkway does not bear thinking about as residents would be trapped in the building with no way out," it said.

London Mayor says  'questions need to be answered'

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said questions will need to be answered over the safety of tower blocks after several people were killed in the fire. Some residents said they had been advised they should stay
in their flats in the event of a fire, while the block's residents association had previously warned it was worried about the risk of a serious fire. "These questions are really important questions that need to be answered," Khan told BBC Radio. "Across London we have many, many tower blocks and 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."