London fire as it happened: 12 residents confirmed dead and more fatalities expected after day of horror

Witnesses describe 'terrifying' scenes

London fire: Flames engulf Grenfell Tower in Kensington

A huge fire has engulfed a large block of flats in London, killing at least a dozen people.

Hundreds of firefighters were sent to 24-storey Grenfell Tower in north Kensington, as large plumes of smoke billowed above the capital after the blaze broke out in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Witnesses spoke of "terrifying" scenes, with some residents suggesting they heard no alarm go off when the fire began. At least 75 people are being treated at six hospitals across the capital.

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Key Points

• Eyewitnesses describe 'terrifying' scenes as Grenfell Tower residents fight to escape deadly inferno
• Residents warned of potential 'major disaster' in 2016 blog post
• Muslims awake for Ramadan may have saved residents' lives
• 'Mothers throwing babies from flat windows' as tower burns, witnesses say
• Grenfell Tower's design helped spread blaze up the outside, experts say
• What we know so far as fire rages through Kensington tower block

[14 June 2017 13:55 · Samuel Osborne]

Paul Fuller, chief fire officer for Bedfordshire and chairman of the Fire Sector Federation, said sprinklers could have helped.

He told BBC Radio 4's World At One: "We know that sprinklers are effective. Also, sprinklers will make the environment more survivable by containing the fire and containing the smoke.

"But they are not a total solution. We also have to make sure that passive protection measures - things like the structure of the building and the fire resistance of the building - are all properly in place as well."

He added that the federation has been calling for a review of part B of the building regulations "for a number of years now" to ensure they "meet the needs of a modern society using modern methods of construction and who use buildings differently from the way we used to 30 or 40 years ago".

[14 June 2017 14:01 · Samuel Osborne]

In July last year, the 75-storey Sulafa Tower in Dubai Marina went up in flames, following a number of similar fires in the the Middle East, including one at the 63-storey The Address Downtown Dubai on New Year's Eve 2015.

James Lane, head of fire engineering at BB7, told IFSEC Global last July: "Another high-rise apartment block is apparently victim to the poor fire properties of its external cladding.

"Any building constructed before the 2013 change in the local fire codes will be at risk from this kind of rapid and extensive fire spread unless major work is undertaken in the region to replace combustible insulation core cladding panels with a suitable alternative."

[14 June 2017 14:07 · Samuel Osborne]

[14 June 2017 14:17 · Samuel Osborne]

London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, leaves the Notting Hill methodist Chruch after visiting people (Carl Court/Getty Images) 

[14 June 2017 14:21 · Samuel Osborne]

Here's a round up of what we know so far from the Press Association:

:: The Metropolitan Police confirmed the number of fatalities as six but warned the total is expected to rise.

:: NHS England said 74 people are being treated in six hospitals across the capital, of whom 20 are in critical care.

:: Crews were first called to the scene in Latimer Road at 12.54am on Wednesday.

:: Forty appliances containing more than 200 firefighters attended the scene, with a number receiving minor injuries.

:: Grenfell Tower was built in 1974 and contains 120 flats thought to be home to between 400 and 600 people and is 24 storeys high.

:: The building was refurbished recently at a cost of £8.6 million, with work completed in May last year.

:: The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said the fire had been declared a "major incident" and there would be a "great many questions" asked over the coming days.

:: A casualty bureau has been set up for anyone concerned about friends and family on 0800 0961 233.

[14 June 2017 14:24 · Samuel Osborne]

[14 June 2017 14:33 · Samuel Osborne]

Former minister and ex-firefighter Mike Penning said: "People have been calling, I think probably rightly, for sprinklers to be installed for many, many years under many different governments.

"At the end of the day, what we have got to check is that the existing regulations have been adhered to."

Asked about the delay in the building regulations review, the Tory MP told BBC Radio 4's World At One: "I don't know the circumstances. I think it's much too early to start putting blame at anyone's door."

He also dismissed the suggestion that the squeeze on local authority funding could have been an issue: "I don't think cuts come into consideration when you have residents that have been saying 'we are frightened, we are worried'."

The fire resulted in the "cladding and windows clearly burning", suggesting that the external cladding may have been a factor, Mr Penning said.

"I have never seen a tower block fire move so fast in that sort of way, and from a very low vantage point as well. So the source of the fire will be very interesting when the investigators do that and what was the cause of the initial fire, whether it was electrical or, sadly, even criminal activity."

[14 June 2017 14:41 · Samuel Osborne]

[14 June 2017 14:50 · Lizzie Dearden]

[14 June 2017 15:00 · Lizzie Dearden]