Towering inferno in England ( Archived) (258)

Unknown number of fatalities, says The Guardian.

Nick Paget-Brown, the leader of Kensington and Chelsea council, told Sky News: “Several hundred would have been in there. It’s a question of establishing how many were in there at the time of the fire.”

There are believed to be at least 120 homes in the building.

that would amount to quite a few Occupants!

Many people on social media have been quick to blame cladding which was recently placed on the building as part of a major £8.7million refurbishment for the reason the fire was able to take hold so quickly.

He added: "We can see how quick the fire spreads via the external panels.

Meanwhile it's emerged residents had issued a chilling warning about fire safety just months before this morning’s blaze.

In a series of blog posts since 2013, a residents’ group called the Grenfell Action Group repeatedly criticised Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO) - the company which manages the tower block - over its fire safety record.



Nearby resident Celeste Thomas says it’s well known in the area that there have been safety concerns about the building.

“There are quite a lot of families in that building, quite a mixed community,” she told Macquarie National News.

“It is very full, so there would be a lot of people.”

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The tower block was built in the 1970s as part of the Lancaster West Estate project. It recently underwent a £10m refurbishment, which included installing exterior cladding, double glazing and a new communal heating system.

We’ve been unable to give anyone our names. It’s been five hours. There’s people here who don’t have a clue if their relatives are alive or dead.”

Ahmed Chellat had come to the Rugby Portobello centre with his wife to look for his brother-in-law, his wife and three children. “We don’t know what’s happened,” he told the Guardian. “I asked him to come out and he couldn’t. He was advised to put towels under the doors and he said they will come for him. We’ve heard nothing.

“Last time we spoke to them was about 2.30am – he said the fire brigade’s coming up to me.”

Chellat continued: “The whole issue here is for five hours we’ve been here with my sister-in-law and some tenants. There’s no councillors, no TMO [the tenants’ organisation] to say exactly what’s going on.



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 Road and it had issues with evacuation procedures at the building.

There were reports of a strong smell of burning plastic, thought to be white cladding that was installed on the building last year as part of a £10million refurbishment.

Up to 600 people are believed to have been inside 120 flats in the 24-storey Grenfell Tower when the blaze began. At least 50 injured people were taken to hospital - it is unclear how many managed to get out safely.

A man who lived on the 17th floor of the block, identified as Methrob, told LBC Radio: "I heard the fire trucks and so I was alerted that something was going on.

"There was no fire alarm in the building, we don't have an integrated fire alarm system. I went outside my house and I could smell the smoke. I looked out my window, I leaned over and I could see the fire blazing up.

"I woke up my auntie who was sleeping, it was about 1.15am, and we started to make our way down. I warned a couple of my neighbours, the ones nearest to me, and we basically went as fast as we could."

He said the fire was inside one apartment, but added the "real issue was when it caught fire to the cladding outside. That's when I noticed the fire from outside when I looked out the window.

"By the time that we got downstairs, the fire had gone all the way up and it was just about reaching our windows on the 17th floor. The whole one side of the building was on fire. The cladding went up like a matchstick."

"I saw jumpers. I saw one jumper jump out, he landed on a fire patrol officer. His leg was dismembered from his body and there was another guy who died in the fire exit.

"Afterwards I spoke to the fire officer, the same one. He had been working right through the night and he said they could only get to the 11th floor, that was as far as they got.

"So in my opinion everyone north of the 11th floor had real trouble getting out."