London fire: At least six dead in Grenfell Tower blaze, police confirm

Thanks for sticking with our live coverage of the inferno in London.

We'll continue to provide rolling updates tomorrow as the cause of the fire is investigated,.

Six people have died and dozens more are injured, with authorities expecting the death toll to rise as they get to the upper floors of the building.

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More now from that remarkable interview with one of the firemen who fought the blaze.

Terry, a firefighter of 27 years' experience, told LBC radio his story:

"I was at that fire from 2am to 10am this morning. When we turned up … there was only one side that was on fire. But within a couple of hours that whole building was completely engulfed," he said.

"It was almost like the Towering Inferno and 9/11 rolled into one. The amount of debris, flaming debris.

"To get into the building we had to run the gauntlet of the debris. The police were providing riot shields, so we were running a gauntlet every time we went in the lobby.

"Me and our crew were involved in rescues. On the stairwells, on the way up to certain flats that we had been told to go to… we were just meeting people coming down the stairs in smoke. I don't know how they were breathing. We were in breathing apparatus. We were literally carrying them down the stairs.

"It's like a war zone there. [I've seen] nothing like it ever. It's unbelievable. That a building could go from a fire in a flat which we believe was on one of the lower floors to the whole building, literally 100% of the building on fire.

"It was a hot night. You can imagine all the windows that were open [for burning debris to enter on the rising flames].

"I only went as far as the 10th floor and what we saw, definitely that [death] toll is going to rise.

"It don't matter what plan you had to deal with that sort of fire, that plan was going to fall down. It was just like them images of 9/11… I've never seen anything like it in my life."

Plans and documents at the website of the building's not-for-profit landlord reveal the make of the cladding that some believe helped the fire spread up the building.

The cladding was made of Reyondbond/Reynolux panels, made by a French subsidiary of Alcoa.

According to the maker's website, Reynobond are aluminium panels made out of two aluminium sheets fused onto a polyethylene (plastic) core. Reynolux is painted aluminium.

Reynobond's certified fire rating in France is "combustible - non-inflammable", according to the company's website.

One witness said the cladding "was burning like paper", which "was just like throwing fuel on on the fire".

"It wasn't the building, it wasn't the structure," the witness said. "[It was] that cladding".

British Prime Minister Theresa May says she is "deeply saddened by the tragic loss of life" in the fire.

A spokesman said Mrs May is being kept constantly updated on the situation.

"The PM's thoughts are with all of those affected by this terrible incident and the emergency services, who are working tirelessly in very difficult circumstances," the spokesman said.

A cross-government meeting will be held early on Thursday morning AEST to co-ordinate the emergency response.

Firefighters expect to remain at the scene for at least 24 hours.

with Reuters

Firefighter Terry, who attended the blaze, told London radio station LBC it was the biggest fire he had seen in his decades in the job - possibly London's biggest blaze since the Blitz.

"To see a whole 24-storey building on fire - how does that happen in the 21st century?" he asked. "How does that happen in London?"

Planning "goes out the window" with a fire that big, he said. The burning cladding falling off the building made it hard to even get inside.

"We had to literally run [to the building] under riot shields" held by police, he said. "We were struggling."

One colleague was hit by someone who jumped from a window, Terry said.

From Nick Miller: Twenty people are in critical care and another 44 were taken to six hospitals after the fire, according to updated figures released by the London Ambulance Service.

London Ambulance Service director of operations Paul Woodrow said: "Over 100 of our medics have been working hard to respond to this incident, including ambulance crews, advanced paramedics, advanced trauma teams from London's Air Ambulance and those staff managing the incident in our special operations centre". 

"Our hazardous area response teams are also on scene, who carry specialist equipment including breathing apparatus. We've been treating patients for a range of injuries, as well as for smoke inhalation."

From Nick Miller: Building firm Rydon worked on Grenfell Tower's refurbishment last year.

They have issued a statement saying they were shocked to hear of the fire and their immediate thoughts were with those affected, their families, relatives and friends.

The refurbishment "met all required building control, fire regulation and health and safety standards", the firm said.

"We will cooperate with the relevant authorities and emergency services and fully support their inquiries into the causes of this fire at the appropriate time."

From Nick Miller: David Collins, of the Grenfell Tower residents association, has told the BBC their concerns about the safety of the building were ignored by the landlord organisation - a not-for-profit organisation at 'arms length' from the council called Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation - and by the council.

They had complained about "fire-safety concerns which were not investigated during the regeneration works", Mr Collins said.

"(There were) concerns over locations of boilers, concerns about escape, concerns about fire-escape lighting, the list goes on. 

"I spoke to councillors and they refused to investigate."

From Latika Bourke: Neighbours have described the horror of watching trapped children screaming for help and calling for their mothers as flames engulfed the building.

Read more here

Witnesses have described distressing scenes at Grenfell Tower.

Six fatalities confirmed. Police expect that number to rise.

For those just joining us, a huge fire has engulfed a 24-storey block of flats in West London.

Police have confirmed at least six deaths at the Grenfell Tower.

Fifty people have been taken to hospital and 200 firefighters remain at the blaze, which is still burning hours later.

There are 120 flats in the building but authorities do not know how many people were inside at the time.

Many residents say they did not hear fire alarms when the blaze began, which spread rapidly, consuming the entire building within minutes.

Witnesses have told harrowing stories of people jumping out windows.

Others saw families waving pieces of cloth or mobile phones in an effort to be rescued as the smoke and fire engulfed their flats.

A cordon has been set up around the block. A number of neighbouring flats have been evacuated.

Read more here.

From Nick Miller: At least six, and probably more people died in the tower block fire, police have said.

Commander Stuart Cundy, from the Metropolitan Police, said in a statement: "Our thoughts are with everyone involved in this truly shocking fire at Grenfell Tower".

"I can confirm six fatalities at this time but this figure is likely to rise during what will be a complex recovery operation over a number of days. Many others are receiving medical care."

From Aisha Dow: Online records indicate contractor Harley Facades Limited installed "over-cladding with ACM cassette rainscreen" at Grenfell Tower.

ACM stands for aluminium composite material, which is the same combustible product blamed for fuelling nearly a dozen major high-rise fires globally in the past decade, including in Melbourne in 2014.

Read the full story here.

From Latika Bourke: Witness Mark said the Grenfell Tower had recently been renovated with cladding added to the outside.

He said it was the cladding that caused the fire's intensity.

"It was burning like paper, it wasn't the building, it wasn't the structure, that cladding - it was just like throwing fuel on the fire." he said.

Sam, 23, was just returning to his home on a street nearby Latimer Road at 1am.  

"The whole thing just went up, it took off like a match to paper," he told Fairfax Media.

"Whole panels were coming off in flame, [firefighters'] hoses could reach only halfway up the building and whole bits of the facade from the top. These panels were literally falling down. It was horrible."

From Latika Bourke: Witness Mark first saw the blaze from the window of his bedroom on St Anne's Road.

He said the sound of helicopters, sirens and screams woke him and he initially thought it was a terrorist attack. 

"I heard screaming - kids - I could hear them screaming, I could hear the words specifically 'mum' and I could women screaming and I went 'no that's not a terrorist attack'," he told Fairfax Media.

He raced to Latimer Road to help but said by the time he got there the building was a "tower inferno".

"It was burning like paper, it was getting worse by the second," he said.

"I saw people up on the second-from-top floor, they had the lights on their phones on and they were shining their lights ... through the windows so people could see them," he said. 

"I focussed on a family on the top left-hand corner, I know there was a kid there, I could tell by the shape."

Asked if there was any chance they could have been rescued or escaped, he said "not a chance in hell."

"The casualty figures are going to be bad." 

A baby was caught by a member of the public after being dropped the tower as it was engulfed with flames, a witness says.

Samira Lamrani told the Press Association she saw a woman try to save a baby by dropping it from a window "on the ninth or 10th floor".

"People were starting to appear at the windows, frantically banging and screaming," she said.

"The windows were slightly ajar, a woman was gesturing that she was about to throw her baby and if somebody could catch her baby.

"Somebody did, a gentleman ran forward and managed to grab the baby."

Ms Lamrani said she could see people from all angles, banging and screaming for help.

"Us members of the public were reassuring them, telling them we've done what we can and that we've phoned 999, but obviously the look on their face was death," she said.

My daughter's friend said she observed an adult who made some sort of homemade parachute and tried to lower himself out of the window.

"The more I looked up, floor upon floor. Endless numbers of people," she said.

"I could hear them screaming for their lives."

From Nick Miller: A London radio presenter has read out what he said was the latest published fire safety advice to residents of Grenfell Tower.

The policy, from July 2014, told residents "our long-standing stay-put policy stays in force".

"This means that unless there is a fire in your flat or in the hallway outside your flat you should stay inside your flat."

The notice says the building was built to rigorous safety standards, and the "new front doors can withstand a fire for up to 30 minutes which gives plenty of time for the fire brigade to arrive".

Here's a tweet we shared earlier:

Reporters have described harrowing scenes at emergency centres, as people desperately search for missing loved ones.

On social media, people are posting messages to find people missing in the blaze.

A Facebook message looking for 12-year-old Jessica Urbano has been shared more than 1000 times as frantic family members continue their search.