Grenfell survivors 'freak out' over being offered high-rise accommodation

Grenfell Tower in west London after a fire engulfed the 24-storey building. Photo/AP

Survivors of the horrific Grenfell Tower inferno have "freaked out" after being offered temporary accommodation in high-rise tower blocks.

Nadia Isla, who lives close to the 24-storey tower in west London, revealed one of the men who escaped the burning building was offered a place to stay in a hotel.

But she said he refused to go there with his children because they were frightened to enter a tall building similar to the one they dramatically fled, according to Daily Mail.

It comes as Red Cross workers - typically deployed in war zones - have been drafted in to help with disaster relief.

Police have said at least 58 people died, or are missing, presumed dead, after the devastating blaze ravaged the tower block in the early hours of Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the new MP for Kensington has claimed some of the survivors have been sent outside of the borough with just £10 a day to live on.

Speaking just yards from the scene, Ms Isla said: "The survivors are not watching the news. They don't want to see their houses burning.

"They don't want to see it so they don't know that you are doing all this kind stuff."

She then showed a photograph of a man who lived in the building and said he was offered a place to live in a high-rise hotel.

Nadia added: "They wanted to put him in a building which is a high-rise building. He freaked out because he doesn't want to put his children in a high-rise building - would you?

"They have been trying to re-house them in the building but they [the survivors] do not want to go in it. Would you? Do you blame them?

"He freaked out, he said he does not want to put my children in that building.

"His wife, I hugged her, she cried in my arms for five minutes."

She then showed a picture of the hotel where the survivors were offered a place to stay and again described it as being a "high-rise tower".

Ms Isla said: "The wife said 'I don't want to go higher than the first floor'."

She also claimed that some those who lived in Grenfell Tower have been offered rooms in Manchester and Birmingham.

Ms Isla added: "They have been offered accommodation in tower blocks in Manchester and Birmingham. Can you believe it? Tower blocks?

A woman was seen laying flowers close to the scene where the blaze happened in west London. Photo/Getty Images

"They've just escaped from a burning tower block - they don't want to go in one again.

"It's an absolute disgrace. They are scared and terrified after what's happened to them."

According to the Sunday Times, the Red Cross will give "psychological support" to the survivors and also the emergency services who went into the tower to fight the flames and rescue residents.

The charity - part of the International Red Cross - provides a range of services from ambulance support, first aid and setting up communications.

At 58 casualties, it would make the Grenfell Tower blaze the deadliest in the capital since the Second World War.

More than 250 firefighters tackled the blaze in north Kensington as London Fire Commissioner Dany Cotton said the scene looked like a "disaster movie".

Police have appealed to anyone who may have escaped from the building, but has not yet come forward, to make themselves known.

When asked about the search, Mr Cundy replied that the officers had gone "all the way to the top" of the tower, and explained that the first phase was a visual search.

Mr Cundy said the police investigation into the blaze would look at the building and its refurbishment in 2016 and vowed to prosecute people if there was evidence.

The police are appealing to anyone with pictures or videos of the blaze to hand them in, as they may help establish not only where and how the fire started, but also how it spread.

Victims met the Prime Minister at Number 10 on Saturday evening and man representing the group said they had spoken about their "demands and what we expect".

Mrs May said she had fixed a deadline of three weeks for everybody affected to be rehoused locally.