A number of deaths has been confirmed as a raging inferno consumed Grenfell tower block in west London.
The 24-storey Grenfell Tower in north Kensington burn all through the night with more than 250 firefighters battling to contain it. Over 50 people have been confirmed injured so far. Local resident Tim Downie told NBC News he saw “people dangling children out the windows to try and get them to safety.”
London Fire Brigade Commissioner Dany Cotton called it an “unprecedented incident,” adding that a “number of fatalities” were confirmed. “In my 29 years of being a firefighter, I have never, ever seen anything of this scale,” Cotton said. “This is a major fire that’s affected all floors of the 24-story structure from the second floor upwards.”
Grenfell Tower dates to the 1970s and features around 130 units. It is located about a mile northwest of Kensington Palace and is also near the Portobello Road market tourist attraction.
Local officials believe that several hundred people were in the building at the time. The high-rise had a “stay put” policy in the event of a fire — with residents urged to shut their windows and doors and await rescue.
The London Fire Brigade sent 40 vehicles to the scene after being called at 12:54 a.m. Wednesday local time. At least 50 patients were later transported to five local hospitals. At 8:30 a.m. local time, black smoke was still pouring from every floor of the building.
Surrounding streets up to a mile away were covered in a layer of ash Wednesday morning as the police helicopter buzzed over the area — an ethnically and economically diverse part of west London.
London mayor Sadiq Khan said in a statement: “There will be a great many questions over the coming days as to the cause of this tragedy and I want to reassure Londoners that we will get all the answers.”
