Police said Wednesday that six people have been confirmed dead in a huge fire at a London tower block and the death toll is expected to rise.
Fire engulfed the 24-storey block of flats in central London in the early hours of Wednesday.
No fewer than 50 people were injured and some residents were trapped inside the towering inferno.
“We can confirm six fatalities at this time following the fire in North Kensington,” London’s Metropolitan Police said in a statement.
“These are very early stages and we do expect that figure to rise.”
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said questions will need to be answered over the safety of tower blocks after several people were killed.
Some residents said they had been advised they should stay in their flats in the event of a fire, while the block’s residents association had previously warned it was worried about the risk of a serious fire.
“These questions are really important questions that need to be answered,” Khan told BBC Radio.
“Across London we have many, many tower blocks and what we can’t have is 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.”
Flames licked up the sides of the block in the north Kensington area as 200 firefighters, backed up by 40 fire engines, fought the blaze for hours.
Plumes of black and grey smoke billowed high into the air over the British capital hours after the blaze broke out at the Grenfell Tower where several hundred people live.
Some said no fire alarm sounded.
