WATCH: Latest on Grenfell Tower fire in London
The fire tore through the 24-storey building
Last updated 14th Jun 2017
In the early hours of Wednesday morning a fire tore through Grenfell Tower in North Kensington in London. The building is 24-storeys high and is estimated to have 120 homes according to the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
Six people have died and 79 people have been taken to six different hospitals, the majority suffering from the affects of smoke inhalation.
Crews were first called to the scene in Latimer Road at 12.54am on Wednesday morning.
More than 200 firefighters attended the scene.
The building was upgraded at a cost of £8.6 million with work finishing in May 2016.
London Fire Commissioner Dany Cotton released the following statement:
“This is an unprecedented situation, with a major fire that has affected all floors of this 24 storey building, from the second floor up.
“Over 200 firefighters and officers are attending this incident, with 40 fire engines and a range of other specialist vehicles, including 14 fire rescue units in attendance.
“Based on the level of resource that were needed at this fire we declared it a major incident in the early hours of this morning.
“London Fire Brigade’s Control room took multiple calls to this incident, with the first received at 00.54am.
“First fire crews were on site in under six minutes.
“Crews wearing breathing apparatus have been working in extremely difficult conditions to rescue people and bring this major fire under control.
“London Ambulance Service have confirmed that a number of people have been taken to five hospitals.
“At this time I am sad to confirm that we now know that there have been fatalities. I cannot confirm the number at this time and as you will appreciate with a fire of this size, affecting such a large building it would be unhelpful of me to speculate further.
“The cause of the fire is not known at this stage, and clearly we will be here all day and will be in a providing further updates, working with the police and ambulance service.”
“Further information for the public will be made available shortly, including advice for those concerned about those they are worried about and the emergency services will be working with all agencies, including the local authority to support all of those affected by this incident."
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan tweeted the following statement:
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A casualty bureau has been set up for anyone concerned about friends and family on 0800 0961 23.