Dozens are feared dead today after an inferno believed to have started when a fridge exploded ripped through a 27-storey west London tower block in just 15 minutes.

Residents were seen throwing themselves and their children out of windows to avoid being burned to death – others made ropes by tying sheets together as fire engulfed Grenfell Tower in White City at 1am today.

But a baby tossed from the ‘ninth or 10th floor’ of the building housing 600 people was caught by a member of the public and survived with only broken bones and bruises, a witness has said.

The trapped, some of whom are still inside, were heard begging for their lives screamed ‘help me’ while waving white towels, torches and mobile phones to attract the attention of the 200 firefighters who started storming the building within six minutes of the 999 call.

Those who managed to flee said it was ‘like hell on earth’ inside and compared the disaster to the 9/11 attack – and also revealed there was no working fire alarm, sprinklers failed and the only staircase out was blocked.

The building’s new cladding completed during a recent £10million refurbishment ‘went up like a match’ and sped up the blaze, another said.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has also demanded to know why Grenfell residents were told to ‘stay put’ in their flats for up to an hour in the event of a fire and will investigate claims that residents repeatedly warned that many people would die in the event of a major fire.

Dany Cotton, Commissioner of the London Fire Brigade, said there had been ‘a number of fatalities’ while the London Ambulance Service said 50 people are in hospital and paramedics are treating many more walking wounded for smoke inhalation and minor burns.

Desperate survivors being cared for in several west London rescue shelters have seen sobbing as family and loved-ones, including dozens of children, remain unaccounted for.

BBC