More recent update now (approx 10 minutes ago) has officials confirming fatalities but no actual numbers have been given.
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10M ago
London fire commissioner Dany Cotton is giving a statement. She said fire fighters arrived within six minutes.
She confirms that there have been a number of fatalities. She could not confirm numbers because of the complexity of the building.
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Quote:
32M ago
If you’re just waking up, here’s what you need to know about the devastating blaze at Grenfell Tower.
- The apartment block on the Lancaster West estate in north Kensington continues to burn after the fire brigade was alerted shortly before 1am Wednesday.
- Forty fire engines and over 200 firefighters were sent to tackle the blaze through the early morning, “working extremely hard in very difficult conditions” to tackle the “large and very serious incident”.
- Though many witnesses said they saw people trapped inside their homes, emergency services gave no further details beyond saying that 30 patients were taken to five hospitals.
- The fire brigade is expected to give an update soon; areas of the building are still on fire, prompting concerns it may collapse.
- About 30 flats in the surrounding area have been evacuated and emergency rest centres have been set up for those told to leave their homes.
- Police have set up an emergency number for people concerned for friends and families on 0800 0961 233.
- A resident group repeatedly warned of a fire risk at the tower, claiming that a major fire had been narrowly averted after a power surge in 2013.
- The building recently underwent significant, multimillion-pound renovations that concluded in early 2016.
- The borough of Kensington and Chelsea said the cause of the fire will be investigated, but for now the focus is on supporting emergency services in their rescue and relief operation.
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