Several people have been killed in a huge fire at a block of flats in West London. The tower block is 24 storeys high and contains 120 apartments.
The fire started in the early hours of Wednesday morning. London ambulance service said they were called at 1.29am and 20 crews raced to the scene. The London Fire Brigade (LFB) have confirmed there have been “a number of fatalities” and at least 50 people have been taken to the hospital so far, according to London Ambulance Service.
One resident said he only discovered the fire when he heard people screaming from outside his window.
He claimed the fire alarm was barely audible, comparing it to ‘the noise a lift door makes’. Another resident reported that no fire alarm had gone off on the 16th floor.
Some residents have claimed that they had raised concerns for fire safety in the block months ago.
Sadiq Khan, Mayor London commented earlier today “One of the concerns that we have is it’s a 24-storey building but for obvious reasons, with the scale of the fire, our experts weren’t able to reach all the way to the top, so of course these are questions that need to be answered as soon as possible.”
He added: “It’s very distressing, not just for those of us watching as lay people, but also very distressing for the emergency services.
“We declared a major incident very early, which meant not just the fire service but also the London ambulance service, the police and the others were involved at the scene.”
Grenfell Tower, which was built in 1974, had recently undergone a major refurbishment.
