this is bbc news. i'mjane hill in west i'm jane hill in west london where an entire tower block has been engulfed by fire. at least six people are known to have died, but the met police say the total is likely to rise. the fire broke out just before 1am. there is a dedicated line for this incident, 0k? thank you. witnesses say they saw people trapped in their flats shouting from their windows and trying to throw children to safety. it was so dark and so much smoke. there was people running down the stairs. some people even had luggage. there wasjust stairs. some people even had luggage. there was just so much confusion. there was no sound of alarm or bells whatsoever. there is mothers that have come out and lost

their children. there are firefighters that have come out injured. we don't know if they're going to come out safe. the tower is still burning 1a hours later and firefighters remain inside looking for any survivors. the mayor of london says many people are unaccounted for. my thoughts and prayers as i'm sure the thoughts and prayers as i'm sure the thoughts and prayers of the entire country are with the family and friends of those in the building and affected by this tragic and horrific fire. g re nfell tower tragic and horrific fire. grenfell tower had recently been refurbished at a cost of £10 million. local people have been telling us they are astonished at how quickly the flames spread. it's not clear what started the fire. london fire brigade's chief says she has never seen anything like it in 29 years of firefighting. we'll bring you the latest from

here. hello and good afternoon again from west london. we have moved to one of the three rest centres that has been set—up for anyone see lentionly who is homeless, in difficulty, in need here in west london this afternoon in the light of that fire. there is a huge operation going on here to provide what comfort can be given to those who need it. very, very difficult to provide much at all for some people, but there are facilities inside and there is a huge operation, an enormous number of people arriving all the time with donations so people are bringing

clothes, food, water, toiletries and people are being looked after as best they can be in very, very difficult circumstances. later this hour, i'll be talking to one of the ladies involved in helping to distribute the aid here, but before i speak to her, let's bring you right up—to—date with everything we know so far on a very, very difficult day for the community here in west london. at least six people, known to have died, that's what the metropolitan police is saying, but they added that regrettably that figure is likely to rise. perhaps as many as 600 people were in the g re nfell tower many as 600 people were in the grenfell tower when the fire was reported at 12.55am. about # 70 people being treated in five hospitals. some are critically injured. the prime minister released a statement saying she is deeply saddened by this tragic loss of life. our saddened by this tragic loss of life. 0urfirst report, this hour, on what we know so far comes from

oui’ on what we know so far comes from our correspondent, richard lister and just to tell you that you may find some of what richard has to tell us very upsetting. a terrifying inferno. residents waking up to smoke and panic.|j could smell plastic. soy went to the kitchen. i opened the window. i can hear shouting and screaming and someone hear shouting and screaming and someone saying, "it's getting bigger. it's getting bigger." there was smoke everywhere. there was bits of cladding falling off the block. people screaming. seeing seeing people at their windows waving and desperately wanting someone to come and rescue them out of their flat. it wasjust awful. neighbours came, desperate to help, but with flaming debris falling from the tower block, their lives were at risk too. they

need to ring 999 there is a dedicated line for this incident. police cleared a wide cordon and closed the nearby a40. 200 firefighters were brought in and led many residents to safety. but more than 50 people were taken to hospital and as it began to get light, it was clear there was still people trapped in the building. what floor are you on? seventh. as the tower block burned, people recalled the horror of what they'd seen. people screaming. people jumping the horror of what they'd seen. people screaming. peoplejumping out on fire. chucking ropes down that they made out of bed sheets to try and climb out. just complete nightmare. absolute nightmare. there is people throwing their kids out, just save my children. just save my children and the fire brigade and the ambulance and the police couldn't do nothing. they couldn't get in. they were telling them to stay there where they are. we'll

come and get you. but things quickly escalated. everyone is just come and get you. but things quickly escalated. everyone isjust in shock, there is people searching for people now with pictures out. apparently there is a lot of children missing. because there was a lot of young kids and old people living in the block and it went right up. there weren't no stopping it. fire crews using breathing apparatus are still trying to search the building, but the fire was blazing all morning and it is a slow and dangerous task. the final number of casualties is unclear. i'm sad to confirm that there have been a number of fatalities, i cannot confirm the number at this time, due to the size and complexity of this building and it would clearly be wrong for me to speculate further. equally, the cause of this fire is not known at this stage. the incident occurred overnight is truly shocking. it's going to take a period of time before we truly understand what has occurred, what

has occurred and the investigation will be complex and as you would expect very, very thorough. the tower block is now a smoking ruin. it should have been one of the safest in the borough with a multi—million pound refurbishment. many families are now homeless. we have got to provide shelter to those who have had to flee their homes, but the neighbouring properties affected because of fears of the building collapsing. there are reasonable questions and we should make sure they're answered. this is a community in shock. the aftermath is horrific enough, but there will bea is horrific enough, but there will be a long—term impact too. this nurse helped survivors overnight.|j have nurse helped survivors overnight.” have seen some things, but today i can't even describe it. there is mothers that have come out and lost their children. there are

firefighters that have come out injured that we don't know if they're going to come out safe. people have lost their homes. people have seen things. people were jumping out of the window. we just need to rebuild as a community now. as the search for casualties continues, so too does the search for answers. what led to this fire? and crucially, how did it spread so quickly in a newly modernised block, destroying homes, traumatising families and taking abunknown number of lives. let's go to wyre davies. wyre explain what you have been witnessing in the last few hours. well, of course, thankfully now the seat of the fire does appear to have

been put out, but that's after extensive work by notjust firefighters on the ground, but also the use of a huge hydraulic platform with an unmanned hose and that was able to get to the centre of the fire which had erupted again this morning in the centre of the building and had gone up through the building and had gone up through the building itself. still having said that, there is a huge cordon around the building because police and other emergency services are seriously worried about the integrity of the building itself. now, they say it's still going to probably stand. it's not in danger of falling down, but what has happened throughout the night and throughout the day is that a lot of panels and debris has been falling off the building itself and you only need to look behind me to see a lot of what is hanging off that building looks incredibly unstable. i spoke to da ny cotton, looks incredibly unstable. i spoke to dany cotton, the fire commissioner earlier on and she told me that in her 29 years of service, she had never seen an incident like this. this was unprecedented in her

experience. i think that was in particular because of the speed and the ferocity with which the fire spread. i spoke to a local resident here this morning and she told me she watched adds the fire seemed to pick up from the eighth or foint floor and spread incredibly rapidly upwards towards the top of the building. very sadly probably trapping a lot of people inside. we know now from the emergency services and from the mayor, sadiq khan that at least six people have been killed, but they are expecting more fatalities and sadly the next stage in this process, once that building is made relatively safe, is that search and rescue teams will go in and they will probably have to recover bodies from the higher floors, from those areas where people were unable to get out. so there is a lot of anger here as well. a resident association called the grenfell action group has been in touch with us. they say they are a group of residents from the block of flats who in recent years have

repeatedly complained, have repeatedly complained, have repeatedly made clear their anger at what they say was the real danger from fire within the building itself. they say a lack of sprinklers, a lack of fire alarms, but also great concern about the types of material used in the building and refurbishment of this tower block. also perhaps in other buildings around here. there is a community college behind me called the north kensington academy. that was refurbished or rebuilt around the same time. that's closed because it is within the exclusion done, there were children meant to be sitting gcse exams, but there will be concerns, of course, about other buildings that maybe used the same buildings that maybe used the same building material and used the same refurbishment materials that were used in the tower block. we are coming to the end of the first stage which is the containment and the extinguishing the fire and sadly now, we will probably move on to a search and recovery stage. wyre,

thank you for that—up date. let's go to our correspondent tom burridge. tom, bring us up—to—date?” to our correspondent tom burridge. tom, bring us up-to-date? i have been down to the community centre, not far from here in that direction and it is very easy to meet someone who knew people living in the apartment block. i met one woman who said she knew a family with three young children and she thought they had not survived and that's a story we seem to be hearing tile and time again. it's very tragic, on a positive note. there is a long line of tables, a huge amount of clothes and other things that people have donated and brought along. it's a journalistic cliche maybe, but people are rallying around in this community. they are coming out on to the streets on this hot summer's day and doing what they can, giving their time or money or possessions. i spoke to a man who was in the apartment block, or whose cousin was

in there and he spent hours on the phone to her, she was in there with her two—year—old son. he said at 4am the phone line went dead and he wasn't sure if she survived. i got a text from him and he says he's going down to the hospital and he doesn't have news of his cousin or two—year—old son. there are stories of survival, but tragic stories too. grief when it is raw. this area is known for london's notting hill carnival. today, people struggling to understand how a fire could burn down a whole block of flats with such a devastating effect. this man escaped from his flat on the fourth floor. there was so much smoke, people with luggage, so much confusion. there was no sound of alarm or bells whatsoever.

this was really horrific. there was a man who threw two of his children. and this lady told us a friend and her three children were trapped high up in the building. a friend told me that they have been looking for her since 2am and they couldn't find anything. theyjust told me to go to hospital and as you have seen, we don't know nothing what happened. we don't know if they are alive or dead. i grabbed an extinguisher and try to put it out and it didn't work. we had no chance. the kitchen started to fill with smoke, so i had to run, grab my telephone and my passport and they are the only things i have got at the moment. when the left—hand side of the building was on fire, i remember seeing on the right—hand side, i remember seeing what i could see was a woman and a young child, a young man or something, putting their heads out of the window.

this community woke to a nightmare. whether an accident or something more sinister, this is for all the wrong reasons anything but a normal day. as you can see people have come out into the street this morning, disbelief, some anger too. there are the charred remains of the building all over the street here, it is lifted, and there is a stench of the fire in the air. and this is a page of someone's maths homework. in no time, people rallied around. handing out and collecting, helping as they could. please do spread the word. if people just come down, empty their pockets, that would be amazing. people have just come out of their houses, out of their homes. really via social media, really, and the response is amazing. it's a very caring team in there. we were here two hours ago and we are back, so many more people.

there were also small moments of relief and joy among all the sadness. i've just found out from a very good friend, her daughter was separated from her, we've just got news that, thank god, she has been found. it's just really, it is unbelievable. she has been found. she is in a hospital though. there was plenty of confusion about how many people have been killed, whether people this morning were still trapped. from the rumours circling among the residents here, it doesn't sound good. asi as i came up the road i saw a group of women in complete distress. they seemed to have received the news which they had dreaded about a loved one and remember that story, we're hearing about a woman who apparently threw her baby out of the tower block to residents below who had formed some kind of make—shift parachute. we believe the baby

survived, but we don't know whether his or her mother inside the block trapped there survived or did not. the fire commander who was speaking in this location two hours ago, described this as an unprecedented fire. she said in her long career she had never seen a fire in a tower block quite like this one. jane. tom, thank you. there are so many distressing stories like that. a lot of help is under way to try to give at least just a little comfort and the bare basic necessities as well to people who've lost their homes or people who've lost their homes or people who are still waiting to find out whether friends or relations were caught up in that blaze in the early hours of this morning. let's talk to someone hours of this morning. let's talk to someone who works for muslim aid. i know there is a lot of you from muslim aid working at this centre.

what help are you able to provide? we are very much trying to support those who have been affected in the fire since this morning. i have been here since 7am trying really to support those individuals who have lost and are waiting for news from their loved ones. we are providing shelter and support in the local services and providing that and raising funds to support the long—term rehabilitation and the long—term rehabilitation and the long—term housing needs of these families and victims who have been affected. we are providing blankets and food and working with the local mosques and churches and synagogues to provide. many muslim families have been affected in this fire as well in this large arab community. we're here standing in solidarity and we're here to serve them as best as we can. there will be people who have lost their homes, lost everything. and i know you've already raised a huge amount of money to try to help people? yes, so the british muslim community has

already raised over £30,000 within a matter of a few hours of this tragedy. we expect many more donations to still be coming in. we have seen an outpouring of generosity and support and love from the british muslim community and generally the british community which is fantastic. we have seen donations. people are bringing clothes. people are bringing food. people are bringing medication and hygiene kits. all to the various evacuation sites. there were 250 people in that tower. so, we're still yet to hear about u nfortu nately still yet to hear about unfortunately the scale of the loss, but we're here for as many days as the community need us at muslim aid we will be supporting along with other british muslim charities. you're providing fantastic practical support and that's what people need right here and right now, what's more upsetting is some of the stories you must be hearing and you must behaving to do what you can to comfort people who are in enormous distress? it has been a very

emotional morning because so many women and children and families are here crying because theyjust don't have any idea and are awaiting for news that inevitability of bad news is the worst thing some of us can go through. so we're here providing emotional support as best we can. we have people with special needs and bringing people from our community to provide british sign language and translation services. this is what can happen when our community comes together at times of tragedy and we really sta nd together at times of tragedy and we really stand together with everyone and we will be here to support them for the next few days. it is an extraordinarily swift response and i have been standing here for the past hour watching people bring donation. there has been an instant response andi there has been an instant response and i saw the same this morning close to the block itself? there are mosques and churches and trusts and refugee centres all up and down the local area that are providing meals and food and many british muslims

here are also fasting during this time of tragedy, many of the mosques will be providing items as well. it is important we pool our resources and do our best to help the people who have lost so much injust and do our best to help the people who have lost so much in just a matter of a few hours because of a tragic fire. i'll let you get back to your very, very important work. it's lovely that you were able to ta ke it's lovely that you were able to take out time to talk to us. we wish you all the very best with your work. talking about the distressing stories that she and fer fellow workers have been hearing at rest centre behind me and wherever you 90, centre behind me and wherever you go, you walk around the cordon and you have that sense and i had an extremely upsetting conversation earlier today with a woman who had come to see the fire and she was a carer and she worked for a number of people who lived in that block and of course, she didn't know. she doesn't yet know whether the people that she goes in to look after are still alive this morning and that

was an extremely upsetting conversation and there are many, many conversations like that being had around this entire area. we know six people have died and we know that the metropolitan police says regrettably that figure will rise. let's find out a little bit more about those who did escape, but we re more about those who did escape, but were injured of course, let's go to our correspondent helena lee. well, jane we are at chelsea and westminster hospital. a very busy hospital in west london. in the early hours of the morning when that fire was developing about three miles from where you are, they declared a major incident here at the hospital. they were, of course well prepared for a type of incident like this, but here at chelsea and westminster they admitted the most number of patients. so this afternoon here, they're treating 25 of those 74 patients who were

brought to hospital in the early hours of this morning. now they have gotan hours of this morning. now they have got an accident and emergency department here, jane, but also crucially, this is where they've got a very specialised burns unit and we are told that some of the most severely injured would have been brought here to this unit to be treated and they will be treated this afternoon by a dedicated team of medics. there will be specialist burns consultants, there will be specialist nurses, but also as well, we're told, there will be psychologists on hand as well because we have been hearing those harrowing eyewitness accounts of people who were in that tower or we re people who were in that tower or were watching from afar and those injured will, in time, need to be able to deal with what happened so they will have psychologists on hand for them. but the latest number in terms of those injured, 74 this afternoon in hospital. london ambulance service say 64 patients

we re ambulance service say 64 patients were treated at the scene and then taken to hospital and ten patients took themselves to hospital. so 74 patients still in hospital. actually we just patients still in hospital. actually wejust spoke to patients still in hospital. actually we just spoke to somebody who passed us we just spoke to somebody who passed us bya we just spoke to somebody who passed us by a few moments ago who said that he was in the tower block with his fiancee who is pregnant. they managed to escape and she has just been checked out by doctors here, but actually we have just seen them leaving. so that is good news for them. but obviously, a number of people still in hospital and we know that 20 are receiving critical care at the home. thank you. helena lee. we have had a statement from the prime minister in light of this tragedy. let's get more on that from our political correspondent. tell us about some of the political reaction. jane, we are ina the political reaction. jane, we are in a strange situation here in westminster. the government is not,

parliament is not really sitting. we only really have mps being sworn in. many for the first time coming here to the commons, but the prime minister has, as you said, made a statement saying that she is saddened by the tragic loss of life and is being kept updated on the situation. now, there will be a meeting, a cross government meeting, starting within half an hour, at about 4pm where this will be discussed to co—ordinate the government response and to provide any assistance and any extra assistance to the emergency services and any other response that might be needed. that's going to be chaired by the fire minister, nick hurd and in the commons within the last few minutes or so we've heard from the speakerjohn bercow who has been swearing in new mps, but he has made reference to what has happened. all of us will be aware of and horrified

by the tragic fire which engulfed the vast majority of an enormous block of flats in london in the early hours of this morning. colleagues, it is not possible to treat of that matter in the way that we otherwise i'm sure would wish to do in the chamber today. the government is very sensitive to the concern that exists on this subject and my very clear understanding is that arrangements are in hand for a meeting with the relevant minister to take place within the precincts of the palace of westminster. now, there has been reaction too from the labour party. harriet harman the labour mp had had a similarfire in her constituency in

2009, and there was an inquest into that fire in that tower block and harriet harman saying that lessons haven't been learnt from what happened there. jeremy corbyn is asking the prime minister to make a statement or asking the government to make a statement in the house tomorrow if possible although we are in unusual situation where parliament isn't sitting, butjeremy corbyn is saying look, there are questions. clearly, there are lessons to be learnt. there was a promise from the government after that inquest, that fire that was in south london in 2009, there was a promise from the government to look gun at building regulations. there hasn't been an update on that review into those building regulations. plenty of questions from labour mps and plenty of questions still i think in the coming days. thank you. let's hear a little from the mayor of london as well, sadiq khan because he was speaking much earlier today as you would expect. a swift

reaction from him. let's hear what he had to say. good afternoon. the fire commissioner has taken me to see for myself grenfell tower and it is extremely distressing and devastating. can i begin by saying my thoughts and prayers as i'm sure the thoughts and prayers of the entire country are with the family and friends of those in the building and friends of those in the building and affected by this tragic and horrific fire. also pay tribute to the amazing emergency services from the amazing emergency services from the fire service, we have more than 250 firefighters, many of whom have been here from the beginning, including the commissioner, there will be many more working during the course of the day. many engines and machinery and fire service from neighbouring fire services helping us neighbouring fire services helping us out today and also the london ambulance service, more than 100 paramedics helping out during the course of the night. more than 100

police officers. it's worth reminding ourselves when there are these tragic fires, these emergencies, there are literally emergency services, firefighters running towards the fire, running towards the danger whilst encouraging others to runaway. we do know that a number of people have died i'm afraid and the commander has given you the figures that we have. i'm afraid it's likely that the figures are going to go up. we also know that a number of people have been ten to hospitals. the gold commanderfor the have been ten to hospitals. the gold commander for the ambulance service will be telling you more about that. cani will be telling you more about that. can ijust will be telling you more about that. can i just say this? if you are somebody who is worried about somebody who is worried about somebody who is worried about somebody who may have been affected by the fire, please do ring the casualty bureau on: 0800 0961233. if you're somebody who lives in the building and has left safely, please let us know that you are safe because obviously we want to make

sure that everyone is accounted for. this is bbc news. i'm ben brown in west london, where at least six people have died in a huge fire in a high rise block of flats. the headlines: up to 600 people lived in the building. the blaze broke outjust before 1am this morning when most were asleep. there's a dedicated line this incident. eyewitnesses say they saw people trapped in their flats, shouting from their windows, trying to throw their children to safety. it was so dark and so much smoke was there. there was people running down the stairs, some people had luggage, it was so much confusion. there was no sound of alarm or bells whatsoever. the tower is still burning more than 13 hours later.

firefighters are still inside searching for survivors. the mayor of london says a lot of people are unaccounted for. our focus now is search and rescue, although we're going to move to — i'm afraid — recovery. of course, we've got to make sure that in the meantime we provide shelter to those who've had to flee their homes. grenfell tower had recently been refurbished at a cost of £10 million. residents say they were astonished by how fast the flames spread. it's not clear what started the fire. london fire brigade's chief says she's never seen anything like it in 29 years of fire fighting. we'll have all the latest. more political reaction to the

unfolding tragedy here. we have been hearing from the labour party leader, jeremy corbyn, who has described it as the words labour anyone could think of. he says there must be questions about why there we re must be questions about why there were no more changes are still a similarfire in london in 2009. totally shocked by it. it's the worst nightmare any man can think of. a fire in a tower block. sympathy, support and solidarity to all those that are stuck in the tower or have managed to be rescued, or lost loved ones do not know what has happened to their friends and family. a huge thank you to fire service, police, and ambulance, and all the other emergency services that got there so quickly. they were on the scene within six minutes. but fighting a fire in a massive tower block like grenfell tower is a huge and very dangerous undertaking. just think about it.

we are in a tower block that is on fire, we want to get out as quick as we can, the firefighters and the police and everyone else had to go in. go into that incredibly dangerous place. we rely on them. we should say thank you to all of them for what they have done today, and all the other days that they do it. people have pointed to the last such tragedy in 2009 when someone said there were lessons to be learned about fire protection and buildings. do you think those lessons have been learned ? there were clear lessons to be learned then about the installation of sprinklers and the dangers, the need for equipment to fight fires in high—rise buildings. our country has more high—rise buildings than ever before. look around behind me in the london skyline, you see them all the time. there has to be very strong fire regulations, which there are, but there has to be a stronger sprinkler system installed particularly in residential tower blocks that may be do not have them at present time.

those lessons have to be learned and harriet harman the mp for campbell and peckham, who represented those people who suffered in the fire in 2009 has made the point but if you cut local authority expenditure then the price is paid somewhere. do you think actions that should have been taken somewhere have not been? i'm not making that statement yet. today is the day to support emergency services and the residents and thank all those that have given other help. food, water, clothing, shelter, support. all those that have come forward to help people in a time of need and stress. and thank you to all those in the community that have come together in the most amazing way to support people. tomorrow is the time to ask all those questions. today, let's concentrate on dealing with the consequences of this fire and trying to bring comfort and safety and safe life where ever it possibly can be saved. if we asked those questions tomorrow, can you give us an idea we might be looking into?

the preventative measures that were available not available in the tower. the facilities, available to get in and out of it in an emergency situation. and the numbers of people available to the fire service, paramedics, a emergency services, to deal with a crisis like this. we thank all those that work so hard in our emergency services but we have to make sure we are properly resourced to deal with this kind of crisis should it occur anywhere else. today, let's concentrate on saving life. will your questions concern politicians? there has been talk of a review that should have been carried out that some people have suggested was not carried out? a review took place after the fire in camberwell. the government has that review. i believe we need to ask questions about what facilities and resources have been given to every local authority that has tower blocks in

that area, and frankly, most do. we need to deal with this. we need people to be safe living in high—rise buildings. do you think any of those people involved current serving front bench politicians? obviously ministers that served and received this report must be questioned. but today, every focus on every concentration must be on saving and protecting life. that was jeremy corbyn. this that wasjeremy corbyn. this is what forest—mac looks like now. there are still some flames earnings. the fire service is trying to extinguish those last flames on the 24 story building. the word 500—600 people in

at the time, most of them of sleep because it was just before 1am that the fire began. there are a lot of angst are so —— a lot of unanswered questions, some residents are talking about a refrigerator exploding on the fourth floor. was it to do with the cladding? there was extensive refurbishment last year costing £10 million. lots of questions. that all the smoke alarms and fire alarms work? ticks people are confirmed dead but the police are confirmed dead but the police are saying that is likely to rise. we have been getting more details from the fire brigade and the london ambulance. just before 1am at the london fire brigade received the first of several calls to a fire in this premises. we were on scene under six

minutes and we got additional resources on subaru severity of the didn't. they continue to work to go into the premises to extinguish the remaining fire and search the premises. this is a completely unprecedented fire. in my 29 years in the london fire brigade i have never seen a in the london fire brigade i have never seen a fire of this nature and i have seen many high—rise fires. this will be subject to a major investigation, but we do not want to speculate about the cause of the fire or its spread. that will be closely looked at in the very near future. we continue at the moment to search the premises, to try to identify any people. we have concerns that there are maybe more people inside the premises. it has been a very large and significant

fire. i anticipate the london fire brigade will be on scene for at least the next 24 hours. thank you. good afternoon. i can now confirm that the london ambulance service has treated 64 patients and taken them to six hospitals across london, including king's college and st mary 's in paddington. i can also confirm that a further ten patients have presented themselves to hospitals across london. our thoughts are with everyone who has been affected or involved in this tragic set of circumstances. we continue to have large numbers of staff, including paramedics, and specialist trauma teams from the london air ambulance along with our hazardous area response teams, who carries

specialist equipment including breathing up artists, to support our colleagues from the london fire brigade in the ongoing management of this incident. as my colleague the commission of the london fire brigade said, this is unprecedented and there is a lot of resource required to manage its ongoing status. from an ambulance service perspective, i would ask that you only call us if you have a genuine emergency. there are other parts of the health service, they can give you advice on nonemergency conditions. i suggest that you do that when we support the people with the management of this incident. that was the london fire brigade and ambulance service talking to is only around. so many people around here

have horrific stories of hearing people banging on the windows. 0ne woman through her baby from the ninth or tenth floor, which was cocked by someone on the floor and the baby did survive, although the fate of the mother is not known. —— the baby was cocked by someone. earlier my colleague victoria derbyshire spoke to a resident of grenfell tower, mahad egal, who was one of the first to leave the building. his neighbour had said to him that the fire started when his fridge exploded. there was a bang at the doorjust before 1am and when i went to investigate i was greeted by smoke and dark cloud. the buying out the door with someone knocking on your door? it was. when i opened the door

there was so much smoke. the person was knocking on other doors. i closed the door and got some wet towels. my wife went down the corridor is screaming, there is fire. we wrapped the children and some towels and proceeded to exit the premises. it was so dark and there was so much smoke. people were running down the stairs. some people had luggage and there was confusion. there was no sound of alarm. is there a fire alarm in grenfell tower? jenna legg would be a fire alarm that goes off in these incidents but there was none. we only heard the alarm after 1:30am. there was a failure in terms of the

safety measures that should have beenin safety measures that should have been in place. someone banged on your door, you got your wife and young children... i knocked on my neighbour's doors and kept running. idid not neighbour's doors and kept running. i did not want the children to inhale more smoke than i did not wa nt inhale more smoke than i did not want a collapsed. as you were running down the stairs, how far could you see? you could barely see arm's—length. the hall fire started on the fourth floor. i live on the fourth floor. 0nce on the fourth floor. i live on the fourth floor. once we were going down the stairs and we came to the ground floor, i was confronted by my neighbour who lives at number 16. he has to be if i was ok, he has to have my wife was out. i should

concern, where is your wife. he says it was his house and the french exploded. he said that his french exploded? he said that his his refrigerator exploded. they fire brigade were there. they took a statement from home. what time was that when you got out at the bottom? no later than ten past one. there was smoke and down the stairwell and in europe neighbour's flat. the doors were open because people were going in and out. you may be able to see the fire truck, one of many fire

vehicles that have been working here. 45 fire vehicles working here through the night from when the alarm was first raised will stop the first fire crews were here within six minutes. many firefighters have been involved in the operation here to bring the fire at grenfell tower under control. earlier we spoke to mickey, who managed to escape the building with his partner and step—daughter. he said he was alerted to the fire by neighbours shouting and that it was like something out of a "horror movie". though was the previous fire but how did they not managed to stop it here. they have caused tragedy for people. this is a disaster. like waking up in a horrorfilm. how did

you get out? with my wits. i made sure she was ok and i got down the stairs. there was engulfed. if we had been there another five minutes we would not have got out. this smoke coming up with thick. your thoughts are with those who have died. my heart goes out to everybody. the ones who are passed and the ones that are still here. the systematics. it is not something we will get over by tomorrow. i am gutted. we have lost everything. we have just started afresh and done the house up. jewellery, money, passports, close. thank god for people's generosity and kindness or i would still be walking about in smelly boxer shorts. when will you

sleep tonight? up that tree. it is desperate. some people are opening their homes. we have not go anywhere to go. if you have somewhere to go you get pushed from one side. that was mickey talking to us earlier. we have just seen some very tired looking firefighters walking past us, on their way home after a horrendous experience here tackling the blaze at grenfell tower. we also heard from a group of residents that they warned and a blog last year that it would take a catastrophic event to expose the failings at g re nfell tower

event to expose the failings at grenfell tower in terms of safety precautions that they felt were lacking. earlier the london evening standard photographerjeremy selwyn described what he saw when he arrived in the middle of the night. i arrived around 3am. i saw scenes of carnage in front of me. i parked nearby and walk towards the scene and saw the whole tower block engulfed in flames. it is one of the worst things i have seen in 30 yea rs. worst things i have seen in 30 years. the profession goes out the window when you see something like that. it does. i have photographs of all things for the evening standard over the years, but this was the worst. i felt helpless. over the years, but this was the worst. ifelt helpless. i could see the fire brigade rowing and, they act of bravery was beyond belief. i

cannot believe what must be like to a fireman. they put their lives on the line in my heart goes out to all of them, they did a fantasticjob. when i arrived it was carnage. i could hear screaming but i could not do anything. i tried to walk away where i took a picture from another block of flats. i took the picture which was from quite a long way away and ended up on the front page of the evening standard. the feeling of helplessness, we have heard many people describe that. they remark on the speed with which the fire took hold. i arrived at 3am. by that time it was half covered on one side. i just watched it get engulfed in

flames, nearly every floor was alight. within 30 minutes it became com pletely alight. within 30 minutes it became completely involved. the sun came up behind the ad it was very scary to see. you must've seen some scenes in some of the windows that you will never forget. yes, it was not a pleasa nt never forget. yes, it was not a pleasant night and there were scenes that we did not print. it is not what you want to see again. it is the sort of thing we have photographed in war zones and things like that, that is how you look this morning, it looked like a scene from a war zone. it was shocking and it still is. at what point did that happen? you knew you had a picture

that you needed to get back to the office, but at what point did you stop and take stock?” office, but at what point did you stop and take stock? i have come home now. it hits you know. i have been sitting having a cup of tv you cannot stop watching the news. i have what's away from it but it is still there and i can see it. it has not hit totally yet. i hope that the number of dead people and injured people stays down as much as possible. looking at the scene live, it is such a dramatic image but in such a different way. how would you describe that? it is a smouldering, black rack. it does not look like a block of flats and immoral. we are

not used to seeing this in london, it looks like a war zone, it looks like something has hit it rather than a grown up in flames. you can draw comparisons with the twin towers. this is not a terrorist attack, but obviously something like this is a dramatic scene in london, age might have seen for the evening standard to publish. we can show you what state grenfell tower is in right now. it is still smouldering, some flames, the fire brigade are still trying to extinguish parts in the middle of the building. the cause of the fire is still unknown although eyewitnesses are saying it was an exploding french. kensington and chelsea council said there will

bea and chelsea council said there will be a full investigation. there are many unanswered questions. witnesses talked about the speed at which the g re nfell tower talked about the speed at which the grenfell tower fire spread, it seemed to envelop the 24th story building in 30 minutes. investigators will be asking how that happened. i was taking video at 1:30am and it was moving across the building. the movement of the fire across the building did not take more than 30 minutes. the templars —— the tower was built in 1973 but it was recently refurbished. there was cladding added to the outside. it is speculation at the moment, but the fire could have spread across it. the cladding creates a cavity between the outside face of the

building and the concrete structure. it should have fire stops at each level or it should be noncombustible supping the fire spreading of the building. residents had more concern that the advice was to stay behind the fire retardant doors in the flats rather than to escape. an action group said that its flag dangers but all the warnings fell on deaf ea rs dangers but all the warnings fell on deaf ears and we predicted that a catastrophe was just a matter of time. there are tower blocks across london and responsibility lies with the local authority or private management company to make sure that tower blocks are safe. i will be asking questions about the fire last night, the kinds of questions that your viewers are asking and

residents. the answers will be crucial to showing that other tower blocks are not in danger and to address questions that they may not provide easy enough access to the building. tower blocks are designed to stop this from happening and firefighters were jordan to stop this from happening and firefighters werejordan lay to stop this from happening and firefighters were jordan lay fight to stop this from happening and firefighters werejordan lay fight a firefighters werejordan lay fight a fire like this from the inside, using internal drive rising mains. this was not possible. the company in charge of the refurbishment told the bbc that there were building controls on health and safety standards and they will support inquiries into the fire. but to avoid other fires an association says that the increasing use of combustible materials and construction needs to be addressed and that is likely to be a major focus for investigators. so many

questions the need to be answered, but now all we know is that the death toll is currently sex and the police as saying that is expected to rise. you are watching bbc news. we're going to pause and take a look at the weather. there is high pressure across england and wales that will reach the temperatures over 20. scotland and northern ireland have a workload but this has started to break up in places allowing northern ireland to see some sunny spells and some in scotland. some showers around you see scotland and you can still see some outbreaks of rain. 0vernight the weather system will move from northern ireland into western scotla nd northern ireland into western scotland with some heavy bursts

later in the night. elsewhere there will be some clear spells. a warm and muggy night to come. tomorrow morning we take the weather system to the east but anywhere weather or fade away, so there will be only a few wet showers. there will be fresher air behind it. the temperatures on thursday it will be lower. some good sunny spells around, but it is breezy and it will feel fresher than today. there is a chance of an afternoon show across northern england, but they showers are relieved for northern ireland and western scotland, these could be heavy with some thunder. there will be some sunshine allowed to come through but it will be breezy. that continues into thursday evening. showers for northern england and

scotland. on friday, southern and eastern parts of the uk will stay mostly giant with some charities spells full up the wettest weather in the west of scotland with the strongest breeze. elsewhere we could get some sunshine. with high pressure building northwards across the uk, this is the picture for saturday. we are expecting temperatures to build again. north—west england and northern ireland will have a bit more cloud than elsewhere. the wind and rain is most likely in scotland. the temperatures will heat up over the weekend. south—east england could reach the upper 20s, but then on sunday and into monday the temperatures will go up even more. the temperature could be greater than 30 degrees in some areas.

temperatures will be more widely into the 20s. there is more cloud across parts of the uk. this is bbc news. i'm ben brown in west london where at least six people have died in a huge fire in a high rise block of flats. the death toll, say police, is expected to rise. the blaze broke outjust before 1am this morning when most were asleep. they need to ring 999 there is a dedicated line for this incident, 0k? eyewitnesses say they saw people trapped in theirflats — shouting from their windows — trying to throw their children to safety. there were people screaming. people jumping out on fire. chucking ropes down that they had made out of bed sheets to try and climb out. just

com plete sheets to try and climb out. just complete nightmare. there is mothers that have come out