Twelve dead as massive fire engulfs London tower block

LONDON: At least 12 people perished on Wednesday after a massive inferno tore through a London apartment block, with witnesses reporting terrified residents had leapt from the tower and dropped their children in a desperate bid for survival.

As smoke continued to billow from the gutted building, survivors voiced anger over longstanding safety fears at the 24-storey Grenfell Tower, which was home to between 600 and 800 people.

Parents wrapped wet towels around their children as they tried to escape, while others were seen desperately waving for help from the higher floors, which firefighters could not reach at the blaze took hold.

“There are now 12 people that have died that we know of,” police commander Stuart Cundy told reporters at the scene.

“I do anticipate that the number of fatalities will sadly increase” he said, adding that he did not expect fire crews hunting through the debris to find any survivors.

Seventy-eight people were being treated in hospitals, 18 of whom are in a critical condition.

The alarm was raised just before 1:00 am (0000 GMT) and within an hour flames had engulfed the entire block of 120 flats.

More than 200 firefighters had been tackling the blaze and managed to rescue 65 people.

Some 16 hours on, pockets of flame were still burning inside, and fire crews had reached the top. They had used drones to examine the upper floors.

Blazing chunks of debris fell from the wrecked building, a 1970s local authority-built block in the working-class area of north Kensington, just streets away from the wealthy homes of Notting Hill.

Residents claimed the fire spread on the exterior of the tower, which had been covered in cladding in a major refurbishment completed last year.

The London Fire Brigade said the cause of the fire was under investigation, but its chief Dany Cotton said she had “never seen anything on this scale” in her 29-year career.

More than 10 hours on, flames could still be seen inside the charred building as thick, black smoke filled the sky.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said firefighters were only able to reach the 12th floor at the height of the blaze.

“A lot of people are unaccounted for,” he told Sky News television.

Nick Paget-Brown, leader of the Kensington and Chelsea local authority, said “several hundred” people would have been inside the block.

London Fire Brigade chief Dany Cotton said the building’s structure was stable enough for fire crews to work inside.

“We rescued a large number of people from inside the building very early on,” she said, adding firefighters had managed to reach the 19th and 20th floors.

“We are making steady progress.”

Large pieces of debris could be seen falling from the building, a 1970s local authority-built block in the working-class north Kensington area.

‘I just ran’

Witnesses said they heard screaming from the upper floors as the flames raced up the tower.

“I saw people jumping out of their windows, the building was literally on fire, the ambulances, the police. It was horrendous,” Khadejah Miller, who was evacuated from her home nearby, told AFP.

Adi Estu, 32, who was in her pyjamas and a coat, said: “I saw people flashing their lights for help, families flashing their mobile phones like a torch. But the smoke covered them and then the fire destroyed everything.

“We saw them dying. How can you forget that?”

Hanan Wahabi, 39, said she escaped with her husband, 16-year-old son, and eight-year-old daughter, but feared for her brother and his family who live on the 21st floor.

“Last time I saw him they were waving out of the window, his wife and children,” she said, sitting outside a community centre that is serving as a hub for displaced residents.

‘We saw them dying’

Witnesses said they heard screaming from the upper floors as the flames raced up the tower.

“I saw people jumping out of their windows,” Khadejah Miller, who was evacuated from her home nearby, told AFP.

Two witnesses said they saw children dropped by their parents out of the building into the arms of people on the ground.

Adi Estu, 32, who lives nearby and took refuge in a church with her husband and nine-month-old son, said: “I saw people flashing their lights for help, families flashing their mobile phones like a torch. But the smoke covered them.

“We saw them dying.”

Members of the local community delivered food, water, blankets and clothes to the local church and nearby community centre, where frantic families attempted to call their loved ones, fearing they could be stuck inside.

Eddie Daffarn, a 16th-floor resident, said he struggled to find the stairs as the building filled with black smoke until a fireman grabbed his leg and directed him to safety.

“Loads of people haven’t got out,” the 55-year-old said.

He said residents had complained for years about mismanagement of the block, saying he had warned that “one day there will be a catastrophic fire and that will hold these people to account”.

“This is mass murder and these people need to be put into court,” he said.

Prime Minister Theresa May said she was “deeply saddened” by the situation and has called an emergency meeting to coordinate the response to the fire, which comes just 11 days after eight people were killed in a terror attack on London Bridge and Borough Market.

May faced further delays in forming her new government after a failed election gamble when her would-be allies said their agreement would be put back following the blaze.

Refurbishment concerns

The apartment block was built in 1974, but had recently undergone a major refurbishment, including a new heating and hot water system and new cladding on the outside.

The £8.7 million ($11 million, 9.9 million euros) refit was completed in May 2016.

“Since the refurbishment they’ve had problems with the electricity, problems with the gas,” said local resident Virginia Sang, 62.