A huge fatal fire ripped through a west London tower block yesterday. (Photo by Rick Findler/PA Images via Getty Images)
A huge fatal fire ripped through a west London tower block yesterday. (Photo by Rick Findler/PA Images via Getty Images)
Twelve people have been confirmed dead in a huge fire that ripped through a west London tower block yesterday. But police expect the death toll to rise.
Here is everything you need to know about the fire.
Where was the fire?
It was in the 24-storey Grenfell Tower in Kensington,west London. The residential highrise was built in 1974 and contains 120 homes.
The London Fire Brigade said it was called at 12.54am.
According to several witnesses, the blaze started on one side of the tower block, before sweeping around the building and engulfing it in flames from the second to the top floor.
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What caused it?
The cause of the fire is so far unknown, but residents had previously raised concerns that a "catastrophic" event could happen. An action group of Grenfell residents said their warnings fell on "deaf ears" after highlighting safety concerns about the block.
The group said there was one entry and exit to Grenfell Tower during improvement works at the block in Latimer Rd and it had issues with evacuation procedures at the building.
After the fire, the group posted: "All our warnings fell on deaf ears and we predicted that a catastrophe like this was inevitable and just a matter of time."
1. Gas explosion - Residents said refurbishment work had recently been done on the gas supply to the flats.
2. Faulty fridge - Witnesses described hearing a distressed resident telling neighbours his faulty fridge caused the blaze.
3. Faulty wiring - Residents said a disaster caused by faulty wiring was narrowly averted four years ago.
4. Cladding - Grenfell Tower was fitted with zinc rainscreen cladding and a glazed curtainwall after a £10 million ($17.5m) refurbishment. Experts have claimed this could have exacerbated the spread of the fire.
5. Lack of sprinklers/exits - Labour MP Jim Fitzpatrick said the Government has resisted calls to install sprinkler systems in high-rise blocks after the 2009 Lakanal House tragedy that killed six. The local Action Group also warned that there were not enough entries and exits to cope with a catastrophe.
How many people have been killed and injured?
So far 12 have been confirmed dead, but the Fire Service has suggested that is likely to rise, and it is unlikely any more survivors will be recovered from the building.
The ambulance service has now said 68 patients have been taken to six hospitals across London, and 18 people are in critical care.
A further 10 patients made their own way to hospital.
A "significant number" of people are still unaccounted for.
Police have said a number of people are being treated for a range of injuries.
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.
The Metropolitan Police have set up a casualty bureau for anyone concerned about their friends and family.
What about the missing?
A number of children and elderly people are missing, and friends and family have appealed via social media for information on their whereabouts.
Among them is 12-year-old Jessica Ospina.
Jessica's aunt, Sandra, wrote: "If anyone sees Jessica she should come to The Harrow Centre where the family are waiting for her. Or speak to any police officer to guide her."
My 13 year old niece Jessie has become seperated with her family in the #GrenfellTower Fire please if you see her get in touch ASAP RT Pls pic.twitter.com/xNk5TEQR89
Hamid Ali Jafari said his 82-year-old father Ali Yawar Jafari had not been seen since the early hours of the morning as the family were trying to escape the blaze.
He said: "He was with my mother and sister in the lift and she said the lift stopped on the 10th floor and he said there was too much smoke and he couldn't breathe and he got out of the lift and then the doors shut and it didn't stop again 'til the ground floor."
Ali Yawar Jafari. Photo / Supplied
What did witnesses see?
Witnesses have spoken of hearing screams and seeing people escaping using bedsheets as improvised rope ladders.
London Fire Brigade told people to put wet cloths over their mouths to avoid inhaling smoke as they escaped.
The building has been gutted and the families left only with the clothes they were wearing when they were evacuated.
There were reports of a strong smell of burning plastic, thought to be white cladding that was installed on the building last year.
Fire crews have been sent from North Kensington, Kensington, Hammersmith and Paddington and surrounding stations.
In all 40 fire engines and about 200 firefighters were sent, along with police. The London ambulance service sent its Hazardous Area Response Team.
What do we know about the building?
Grenfell Tower was completed in 1974, so would have needed to comply with strict new regulations that ensured buildings would not fall down in a blast, or major fire. However recent cladding works to the outside may have exacerbated the fire, according to experts at the University of Edinburgh.
Have there been other tower block fires in London?
In July, 2009, six people were killed and more than 20 injured when in a blaze at Lakanal House, a tower block in Camberwell, southeast London.
In May, 1968, four people were killed and 17 injured when Ronan Pt, a tower block in Newham, east London, partially collapsed after a gas explosion that blew out several load-bearing walls.
