London high-rise fire at Grenfell Tower claimed unknown number of lives


nsnbc : A yet unknown number of people have dies and scores were injured in a high-rise fire at Grenfell tower that raged throughout the night and at times engulfed the entire 24-story residential building said a fire chief. 

Grenfell Tower_Kensington_London_UK_Jun 2017Shocked eyewitnesses reported about screaming people, calling for help while being trapped inside the burning Grenfell tower in Kensington, west London. More than 50 people are currently being treated at hospital. The number of fatalities is currently unknown but locals fear it may be high – far too high – considering that residents had repeatedly complained about lack of fire safety.

The night was marked by horrendous scenes, with some residents apparently having fled to the roof of the tower, and others, including people with children in their arms, leaning out windows. The fire spread throughout the entire building, turning it into a 24-story torch that was fully engulfed by the infernal flames.

The London Metropolitan Police has set up an emergency number on 0800 0961 233 for anyone concerned about friends or family. London Fire Commissioner Dany Cotton said there had been “a number of fatalities” but she could not say how many because of the “size and complexity” of the building. Speaking to reporters, apparently affected by the inferno, she said “This is an unprecedented incident. … In my 29 years of being a firefighter, I have never ever seen anything of this scale.” She added that the cause of the fire hasn’t yet been determined either.

Kensington_Grenfell Tower_UK_LOndon_Jun 2017Referring to previous complains about sloppy fire safety in the building complex, London Mayor Sadiq Khan said questions will need to be answered over the safety of tower blocks. “We can’t have a situation where people’s safety is put at risk because of bad advice being given or if it is the case, as has been alleged, of tower blocks not being properly serviced or maintained,” he told in a radio interview with the BBC.

Matt Wrack, of the Fire Brigades Union also stressed that something had clearly gone badly wrong with fire prevention procedures at the building. He added that firefighters would normally fight a fire in a tower block from the inside, going up the fire escape, and fighting using the internal dry-rising mains, he said, but that’s not been possible in this case”.  Several hundred people were in the building when the fire broke out.

With uncertainty about the number of dead, the whereabouts of many who escaped the inferno, and with an investigation having to progress slowly and meticulously after the blaze has been extinguished, appeals are being made on social media for news of missing friends and relatives, who might have been caught in the blaze. An emergency rest centre has been opened for those now homeless at the Harrow Centre, in Freston Road. There are also local collections under way for spare clothes, toys and toiletries.

The first reports of fire in the tower, in Latimer Road, on the Lancaster West Estate, came in at 00:54 BST. Three hours later, people were still being evacuated from the tower, the police. Grenfell Tower was built in 1974 by Kensington and Chelsea Borough Council. It’s part of the Lancaster West Estate, a inner-city social housing complex of nearly 1,000 homes.

Grenfell Tower underwent a two-year £10m refurbishment as part of a wider transformation of the estate, that was completed last year. Work included new exterior cladding and a communal heating system. The 24-storey tower, containing 120 flats, is managed by the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO) on behalf of the council. The local Grenfell Action Group had claimed, before and during the refurbishment, the block constituted a fire risk and residents had warned that access to the site for emergency vehicles was “severely restricted”. Council leader Nick Paget-Brown said the buildings were regularly inspected, but a “thorough investigation” was needed.

CH/L – nsnbc 14.06.2017



Source Article from https://nsnbc.me/2017/06/14/london-high-rise-fire-at-grenfell-tower-claimed-unknown-number-of-lives/

You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Leave a Reply

Powered by WordPress | Designed by: Premium WordPress Themes | Thanks to Themes Gallery, Bromoney and Wordpress Themes