SAN FRANCISCO, June 14, (THEWILL) – At least 12 people have been confirmed killed as a huge blaze turned a 27-storey tower block in London Kensington into an inferno in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
The initial death toll was put at six, but Police Commander Stuart Cundy said at 5pm it had risen to 12, with fears it will increase further.
According to Evening Standard, hundreds of people were in Grenfell Tower as the fire, which is thought to have started on the third or fourth floor soon after midnight, destroyed flat after flat.
People reportedly leapt from the tower as others, trapped inside, desperately tried to make ropes from sheets or used lights on their phones to signal for help from windows and the roof.
Emergency services staff have now searched the entire devastated building.
As firefighters continued to battle the blaze, witnesses said a baby was caught by members of the public after being dropped from a window on the “ninth or 10th floor”.
Fire Commissioner Dany Cotton said about 250 firefighters using 40 engines had tackled the flames.
Police added that it was set to be “some time” before victims could be identified.
NHS England added that a total of 79 people are being treated in hospital, with 18 of those critically injured.
Sixteen patients were taken in a critical condition to St Mary’s hospital.
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