Officials have now confirmed that at least 30 people have been hospitalised after escaping the immense inferno that engulfed an entire apartment block in London.
The Grenfell Tower blaze is still burning throughout the entire 24-storey building, with officials still unsure exactly how many people may have been trapped inside the densely-packed residential building.
The blaze broke out at around 1:00am local time, and at the time of writing still continues to burn throughout the entire building as fire officials struggle to contain the blaze.
More than 200 people are known to live inside the tower, which did not have an interconnected fire alarm system monitoring the entire building. Residents were instead left to maintain their own smoke alarms on an apartment-by-apartment basis, meaning those living in higher storeys or on the opposite side of the building to the fire’s origin may not have had advanced warning of the growing disaster.
One man who managed to escape the building from his 17th-floor home – which he shares with his elderly Aunt – spoke to reporters outside the building and told of the confusion at the scene, as well as the frightening speed with which the blaze engulfed an entire side of the building; a result of flammable exterior cladding, according to the resident.
This man managed to escape from the 17th floor with his 68-year-old aunt. He told me how he got out #LatimerRoad pic.twitter.com/d4miXigfN3
— AssedBaig (@AssedBaig) June 14, 2017
“As soon as we came outside, I looked at the building, I saw that the whole building… one side, all the way to the top, was now on fire; as in the cladding caught fire and spread straight up to the top.”
There are fears growing that the building may collapse entire, with authorities speculating that the blaze may have spread through the building to its central core.
More than 40 fire engines and 200 firefighters are still struggling to bring the blaze under any semblance of control.
Flames are still visible on the middle floors, right through to the top. pic.twitter.com/WfipemhB7C
— Hannah Al-Othman ?? (@HannahAlOthman) June 14, 2017
Source: ABC News.
Photo: Epics/Getty.
