London Tower Fire: Part 1 BBC News Special

temperatures rise once again, turning warmer, with parts of

south-east England by Sunday near 30 Celsius. That is the latest

forecast, back to you. Thank you very much. Before we end

the programme, let's go to one of the community centres that has been

opened to help people who have lived here and lost everything, lost their

homes. Lucy Manning is there. What is so

striking is that there still seem to be so many people, missing so many

people being searched for? Unfortunately, that is right. You

walk around the streets here today and it goes without saying that

there is a real sense of grief. Everybody is talking about who they

know that was in the block and where they might be now. Frankly, not

everybody is accounted for and they expect that there will be more

deaths. I have spent most of the afternoon and all morning in the

community centre behind me, in the basement in the hall, tables are set

out. Families at each table. Some of the families are telling me they

felt very lucky. They have lost everything, their homes, all of

their possessions, but they had at least made it out alive. On other

tables, families more quiet, on phones, trying to speak to relatives

that they had sent around the hospital is looking for other

relatives. We kept popping back and saying, any news? There was a sad

shake of the head. They just want information. Unfortunately, that is

the one thing that there isn't at the moment. Along with the grief and

sadness, there is also anger. Speaking to some of the residents,

they are some of the same people that raised concerns, as they think,

about the safety in the tower block. The residents are angry that nothing

was done and a fire happened, that this has happened to them. Also, a

real sense of community here. People are helping out. There has been an

amazing response at the community centre. People here, I think, it has

been a very, very difficult day for them. People on the street want

answers. It is the one thing that can't be given to them. I think it

is true, very unfortunately, that some of the people that are missing,

perhaps many of them, the death toll is going to rise and we will not

have any good answers for them at all. Lucy Manning, thank you. What

we know now is that at least 12 people have died. Dozens have been

injured. The death toll, we are being told, is expected to rise. We

will have an -- continuing coverage throughout the afternoon.

block which you can see smoke is still coming from the building on

the 15th floor. You can see flames depending on when the wind turns

this way, flames and letting the side of the building, which is why

we've been told to wear these facemasks, because there is debris,

cert and dirt on the air. Their rockets flying around, this is

directly from the building itself. These are on the streets. They have

taken days -- it will take days to clear up. A bird's eye view of the

building, this level of devastation has been caused, the fire began at

1am this morning, and it has claimed lives. Currently 12 lives is the

official total, but the Metropolitan Police tell us that number is likely

to go up. Reporters have been on the ground and around the area all day

from early this morning. We will be hearing from them later in the

programme. We will hear from Karl Mercer at a nearby mosque which

opened its doors to help those in need tonight, who were evacuated

from the tower block itself. Alice has a different vantage point of the

one I've got now. Firstly, I think we should hear from those affected

most. People who tonight are counting themselves lucky to escape

alive. People who lost their homes and in many cases, people who have

lost just about everything they own... Today is the 14th of June...

2am, I was woken up by the siren noise.

We ran downstairs, it took us a solid four minutes to get out,

just as I was entering the ground floor, the fire

I looked down and there was fire on the left side.

Every minute, it was getting worse and worse.

People were in the building after an hour.

The people screaming, the worst thing.

People were calling out and asking what floor they were on.

There were people on the tenth and 11th floors, where

they were actually using the fire hoses, and they saw people waving

from the windows and a woman screaming that she had

Already, she's out, but her brother and wife

We don't know if they are safe or not.

For me, the one image that sticks in my mind was seeing a family

waving what appeared to be a towel for around an hour.

There was a helicopter coming about 400 metres from their window,

For me, the thing I took from this was how agonising must that have

been for that family, when they were there.

We watched them stop moving from the street.

This is one of my main concerns about living in a tower block.

On Saturday, we did have the fire brigade team come around and speak

They told us that the protocol was to close your door

because the fire door will withstand the heat for a duration of time.

But I think what has happened is they haven't understood

that the fire had spread around the building.

That is wrong information for that building and

If you are staying in your house, you could still be trapped.

If you had stayed... If I listen to the advice given to me by the fire

brigade and by the TMO management team, we could be dead. You've got

family on the 18th floor, and you spoke to them last night? What were

they saying? Smoke. They couldn't get out because of the smoke. I

asked... I don't know what I would do if I was him. He just stayed in

the room, hoping the fire brigade would get up there. That is what

they were told? Yeah, they stayed in there to follow the instructions.

Not much you could do from the 80th floor and they cannot fly. -- 18th.

He was like an older brother, always looking after me. What is the

latest? Apparently it has been confirmed that he has passed, due to

the chemicals from the building, in the hospital... I just... I don't

know what to think. The moment that building went up, how, why? There

are a lot of questions to be asked. The

voices of those affected by the tower block fire in the early hours

of the morning. I noticed as soon as I came to the area this afternoon to

see the fire myself, people were approaching me immediately and

asking if we had heard from their loved ones,

one of those people is Ray Fiasco, tell us about them? A good friend of

mine. Her and her mother, the last we heard from them was at 3:30am.

Did you hear from them on the phone? No, they were messaging a friend on

Twitter. As soon as he heard, he got there and from 2:30am to 3:30am,

they lost contact. I woke up to a phone call saying to check the news,

Khadija is in there. I could not get through. I turned to social media

and I thought, you know what? Maybe someone has seen her. You are

handing out leaflets in the area. All the best of luck. I hope you do

find Khadija. That is typical of a number of people in the area. It

seems to me, London is a huge city with millions of people inside. When

it comes to a tragedy, Londoners behave like one community, as you

would expect in a small village somewhere, of people coming together

and supporting those in need. Karl Mercer is in a mosque a short

distance from where I am now. He's been looking to see how people are

doing just that, and coming together. Karl? Yes, we've seen it

across west London all afternoon, people coming with bags and bringing

food. Here we are, just about half a mile from the scene. You can see

just how busy it is. If you take a walk inside, when we arrived at 12

o'clock this afternoon, there was hardly anything here. Hardly anybody

here. But, take a look at what has happened since. This room has been

full, a lot of water and food from here has already been taken to those

in need. If we swing to the other side of the room, we've got a lot of

clothes donated and a lot of bedding as well. As I say, it is something

that's been happening across West London this afternoon. People have

been approaching us as well and offering us assistance. We are now

joined by the chief executive of the cultural centre and mosque here.

Abdul-Rahman Kassig Ede, a very difficult day for you and many

worshippers he would also have suffered? Yes, people worried about

their loved ones. People do not know what happened to their loved ones.

They do not have any information but in the meantime, we are doing our

best to offer all the help people need. We've been inundated with the

generosity of the community. People have called us from as far as Luton

and Gatwick to offer us assistance, supplying us with food and blankets.

And it has been very personal for the cultural centre and mosque as

well, some of your staff have family and many of the worshippers would

have worshipped here? Yes, some worshippers have family in the

building and don't know what happened to them. Worshippers as

well. It is a difficult situation we are in but we are trying to cope by

providing emotional and material support the community needs, as a

centre. We have deleted there. Thank you very much. As you can see, the

effort continues here -- we have to leave it there. It's been a

difficult day for people who have been losing their homes, and our

correspondence Catherine Carpenter has been finding out their stories

of the day. Thank you very much. A neighbour brings 88 of Mary Dennis a

chair, she's been awake since the early hours when she fled her home

afraid and confused. I heard banging on my door, bang, bang. I did not

get up. But what happened, when they banged it and I got up... They said

to evacuate out, out. There is fire. I rang in my nightie. There was

enough screaming, children screaming, everybody screaming.

Another neighbour offers food and water. Thiago says he needs to keep

busy so he does not dwell on what he heard and what he saw. I could hear

people from the tower, there were a lot of casualties, and they said

people were jumping from the building... Overnight, Saint Clement

's Church became his century. Here and at every rescue centre,

donations have flooded in all day -- sanctuary. We are Londoners.

Everybody is a London. We had to help each other. I've been here all

morning. I have older clothes for older people this time... I will

help you. Thank you, darling. This morning it was kids clothes. I've

seen loads of locals coming down. This mosque counts many Grenfell

Tower residence among its worshippers. Today they were sorting

clothes and cooking, for those breaking fast tonight or in need

after the longest of days. Other members of the community took people

into their homes. At least three families crammed into this terrace

in the early hours. My son is asthmatic and was having an asthma

attack. As soon as she saw us, this woman took as an here. If not, we

would have been out all night. Also taken in, this four-month-old. Her

bed for the night is a stranger's sober while her mother waits for

news of missing friends. -- sofa. Catherine Carpenter, BBC London

news. As you can see, the charity effort

continues and will continue late into the night. My colleague has

been out today talking to people living in the area about their fears

of living in high-rise blocks. That's right. I've been here all

day. I am now on the balcony of a low-rise block, just on Bromley

Road, as you can see right in front of the Grenfell Tower. I've been in

the area all day, speaking to people. Some local residents and

some from outside the area, who have come to offer their help and

support. I've also been speaking to firefighters, I spoke to some this

morning coming off shift. They've been here for 12 hours. They told me

when they arrived at this fire it was too dangerous to go in. Debris

was falling. It was only when riot police were able to make a tunnel

out of shields that they were able to enter the building. As you can

imagine, people living in this block saw exactly what happened next door,

as well as people living in all of these tower blocks. There are plenty

around here. The fire raises questions about the safety of

London's tower blocks. In 2009 there were recommendations made after a

similar fire in Southwark, but critics say some of the

recommendations haven't been followed, and lessons have not been

learned. Here is our correspondence Tom Edwards. Knowing full well, when

you are watching this that people are not going to be OK, that this

isn't going to be OK, this isn't going to end well... Yeah, it's

heartbreaking. REPORTER: Angela lives on the 90th

floor in the block opposite Grenfell Tower. After last night, she is now

extremely concerned about the fire risk in her own building -- 19th

floor. What came to mind at 3am this morning is what is the security

protocol in this building, if something similar were to happen?

What would I do and where would my parents go? How would we leave

quickly? This fire raises questions about London's housing stock. The

last major fatal fire was in Southwark in 2009 where six people

died. The coroner made recommendations,

there should be clarity of residents should stay put or get out.

Councils should retrofit sprinklers and simplify building regulations

about what can be changed. The chances of getting a fire are very

low... In 2010 the London assembly also highlighted concerns about the

capital's high-rise housing stock. We found that there was a relatively

low risk of actually having a fire in a tall loading. Really, you are

fairly safe but the problem is if there is a fire, advice is often not

given about the right way to behave and information not being given to

tenants by landlords and councils not giving advice to landlords.

According to city hall, 8% of London's population live in

high-rise flats, blocks over 11 stories tall.

Lessons have not been learned. Today is an absolute tragedy and it is

caused by the lack of proper regulation of refurbishment

standards. The government have been pressed for a number of years by the

all-party and to committee on safety to do a review of the building

regulations to test the integrity of the tools that are used in

refurbishment and they have continually put this off. The

government says that work is still ongoing and checks will now be

carried out on blocks going through similar refurbishment. But there is

now anger and questions. What happened in luck in our house, after

it had been refurbished, the verve furbish and had of the fire -- the

refurbishment had compromised the fire compartmentalised age and and

it didn't compartmentalised. It seems like that is what has happened

in Grenfell Tower and people lost their lives. There has been a lot of

talk around external cladding, making sure that tower blocks of

fire proofed inside properly and compartmentalised, meaning that a

buyer should not be spread from within a flat where it breaks out,

enabling the fire brigade to get there and deal with the incident.

It's difficult to see why this has happened and there are no excuses

for it. This man also lives in the block opposite. He hasn't been able

to contact a friend who lived in Grenfell Tower. Where the claims

are, it if you move to the right, there is a gap there by the smoke,

that is where she used to live. While it isn't clear why this fire

happened, it is very clear that safeguards failed.

As we have been hearing, this tower block, Grenfell Tower, underwent a

?10 million refurbishment that was completed last year and tonight, the

fire minister has said they will be carrying out emergency

investigations on every tower block undergoing similar refurbishment.

Part of the refurbishment included new cladding so questions are now

being asked about the risks posed by that cladding as Gareth Burbidge

reports. Arnold tiling is a fire safety expert and he's about to

carry out a test. The reason he is doing this is because he has a

theory about why the fire spread so rapidly at the Grenfell Tower. And

it's to do with the material that may have been used when cladding was

fitted. The actual rigid board installation that I believe is most

likely to have been used is made from the same material,

polyurethane. I am now setting fire to this and this is the rate at

which it burns. That is very, very rapid and this is a typical material

used for insulating the external part of buildings. This test was put

out easily but he thinks terms of similar materials could have quickly

burned out of control. A baby that I have is that the building has been

clad with a flammable insulation material on the exterior. Of course,

there is no official statement yet on the cause of the fire and the

reason for its rapid spread. But three years ago, at a safety

conference, Arnold tiling publicly warned that cladding high-rise

buildings could end in disaster and now he fears he may have been proved

right. Yes, it looks typical of a cladding related fire on the

exterior of the property. All the external cladding has completely

gone, which is what you would expect if you have got flammable materials.

The principle of the design of the cladding is that it's there to allow

rain to effectively get in and run down that cavity. The problem is

that it will also allow fire to spread up and what will happen is it

will actually create a path for the fire to spread and encourage the

fire to spread faster and more intensely. A spokesperson for the

contractors who completed the refurbishment last year said it met

all required building control by regulation and health and safety

standards. -- by regulation and health and safety standards. Another

company involved said it would not be appropriate to comment or for

others to speculate on any aspect of the fire or its courses in advance

of the enquiries. At this time, the company said it was not aware of any

link between the buyer and -- between the fire and the exterior

cladding. Back here across the road from Grenfell Tower, I am joined by

Jim Fitzpatrick, MP, a former firefighter himself, and Archbishop

Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury. What we are seeing is a

real coming together of people, of communities, Archbishop, helping

each other? It has been the most extraordinary sight around here.

People filling out churches but people from all faiths using the

church buildings, using holes, using whatever centres they can find,

working together, huge teams of volunteers together working

effectively. As someone said to me earlier, it's the community of

Christ in hospitality, in partnership with everybody else and

everyone can just get stuck in. And then of course this extraordinary

work by the emergency services. I've been with them, talking to them, and

just exhaustion written across their faces. Stress and yet courage. And

this is what is becoming typical of London, the way people come

together. They forget their differences. Ed Smith -- its

mosques, synagogues, all areas taking in people as well as

churches. Absolutely. As we have seen, and we saw in Manchester as

well, everyone coming together when there is a tragedy on this scale and

just an outpouring of the most extraordinary love and generosity

and people just getting stuck in. Putting their own interests aside.

It's incredible. Jim Fitzpatrick, you were firefighter yourself. What

were your first thoughts when you heard about the fire? I turned on my

TV and saw the pictures coming from here and I was totally shocked and

images. There was awareness growing images. There was awareness growing

of a state that thought, where some people say they were told to stay

put in the tower block in case of a fire. What do you say about that?

That is normally advice given to people because every flat is

self-contained and the fire doors, if they are up to specification,

should give an hour to everyone inside. You normally advice would be

to stay indoors, the fire brigade turn up and they can take control

and make a decision. Clearly when they turned up here at 1am, the fire

had a hold, the rapidity of spread meant that advice changed and

firefighters were trying to get people out of the building. There is

different advice for different circumstances, but normally it is

safer to stay in the building, inside the flat you worrying if the

building does catch fire until you are advised by the emergency

services what you should do. What is your thought on how we can stop

something like that happening again? We can stop this happening.

Sprinkler systems would have prevented this fire going further

than one room and one flat. The tower block in Southwark where six

people died in 2009, recommendations were made and we have been asking

for a review since 2013, asking the government when they are going to

issue the review of standards, because buildings are different now

from when this was built in 1974. London's skyline is showing

different structures, different materials. There are different risks

and we need to stay ahead of the curve and that is not what has

happened here. We could have prevented this. What is your advice

to people who are still looking for missing loved ones this evening? Get

help, be alongside with other people, don't be by yourself,

because the pressure is so extreme. Find someone, there are so many

people around, go to one of the community centres, one of the

churches and say, I am looking. There are grief counsellors,

doctors, all sorts of people. They will help you. Don't be by yourself.

That's the main advice. Secondly, to know that the whole country is

standing at your side and grieving and worrying with you. Archbishop,

that is good advice. We are sadly out of time. For those people who

are looking for loved ones, the Metropolitan Police have opened up a

dedicated line to help those people. It's on your screen now. It's the

Metropolitan Police casualty bureau, oh 800 0961 26 -- too creepy.

Welcome to west London. This is the scene this evening, still

smouldering, home to some 600 people, 24 floors of accommodation

now reduced to a black and Hulk. Through the day we have heard all

sorts of accounts from residents. Spare a thought for those who left

the building last night in the early hours of the morning, coming out of

their apartments into thick smoke and coming through today knowing

they have lost their worldly possessions and tonight they must

find emergency accommodation. It has been a very difficult day for the

residents here, but at least the community have rallied around them.

We will hear stories of how people are helping. Accommodation, showers,

really helping in any way they can after what people have been three.

In the last short while, we have heard from the London Fire Brigade.

We know the firefighters have made it to the top of the building. That

doesn't mean they have done a research of the upper apartments but

they have managed to get to the top to assess the situation up there.

Structurally, it is still standing but obviously there are structural

engineers here, taking a view of the property as it continues to burn and

ensuring that the firemen who are working around it, and there are

still plenty of them here, that they are safe. There is plenty of debris

and masonry still falling off the building, so it is a very unsafe

atmosphere. You will see from the pictures of the building that they

have managed to get a hydraulic crane up. They are targeting water

into the centre of the building remotely said that they don't have

to put officers in danger's way. Let's speak to someone who has been

involved today. His aunt was in the building last

night. Did you manage to get out safely? Where was she? Luckily, she

managed to get out safely. She was on the second floor of the Grenfell

Tower. When I arrived at 1am, the whole of one side of the facade was

engulfed in flames. I have been there ever since. I haven't at the

site, haven't gone home yet. Within four hours, the whole building had

gone up. As each hour went on, I think the exterior, the power -- the

panels, the cladding, that was catching fire and spreading the

inferno around the building. But it was definitely on one side. I was in

east London at the time that I got the phone call about the tower being

on fire and as I drove down the a 40, you could see it for miles.

Where was your aunt when you got the call? When I got the call, she was

at home. Thankfully, someone had alerted her before I called her, so

she takes it has something, I'm OK. She left promptly, as clean as she

could. -- as soon as she could. She does suffer with arthritis but luck

she believed she was on a lower level, so it was easy for her to get

out. I think anyone above a certain flaw in that tower block either

struggled or didn't get out. How long has your aunt lived here? Many

I've imagine she has been here about I've imagine she has been here about

the same. Did she have concerns about the building? This area, it is

close around here and when people talk, word gets around and everyone

gets involved in other peoples business. Grenfell Tower has a bit

of history of issues in the past. It's something we've always been

aware of. Something was done about it, I'm not too sure. I don't live

in the block myself. I live across from it. It was only refurbished

about a year ago, so you would have thought if there were safety

concerns, they would have been taken care of when work was done. Was she

asleep when the render -- when the fire began? It was 2am, so she would

have been asleep. Most people would have been. Where these stairwells

full of smoke? She ran out. So she ignored the advice to stay?

Absolutely. In that instance, you go into survival mode and luckily I saw

her safe and well. I could say that I could put my worries to rest but

there are friends of ours that we still haven't heard from. Presumably

she knows many of the people here because she has lived in for so

long? Absolutely. Some of the people in that have lived there for 30 plus

years. It's affected not only the people in that building but everyone

around it. If you look around here, there are people from other places

that have come just to help, for food, from all religions, all races.

Everything has been put aside for today and it's a matching -- it's

amazing to watch. The police, the fire brigade, all the emergency

services helping. It's absolutely amazing, breathtaking. Finally,

where is she going to go tonight? Are you housing her? I will house

her by all means if necessary. She is a very strong woman, my aunt, and

will do all she can to sort this out for herself. We will always be there

for her. At the moment, she has got to lovely sons, my cousins, and they

are doing a good job of looking after her. Thank you for speaking to

us. His aunt was in the building last night but glad to say she got

out safely. There has been an extraordinary effort, as he said,

today. Some people have showered locally and giving them closer they

can get to the end of the day. Tonight, of course, people looking

for emergency accommodation. Some hotels in the area offering

accommodation and some concerns that Kensington and Chelsea Council are

doing enough for neighbouring council blocks that have had to

vacate. We will hear more about that in a second but let's hear most --

first from our correspondent, Lucy Manning.

The air was punctuated with the sound of crying.

They gathered outside the community centre.

The one thing nobody could offer was good news.

For this family, it was, understandably, too much.

My mum, my sister, her daughters and husband.

I don't know if they are out, we don't have any information.

She gave us this picture of her three smiling neices.

You haven't been able to contact them?

I phoned my sister, all I could hear was screaming.

I was trying to tell her, get out, get to the nearest fire exit.

The police officers heard me shouting on the phone.

I really just wanted to go in there, basically, do something.

In the last hour, she heard news that someone might have

After the panic of the night, the day brought only silence.

I haven't seen my brother-in-law, his wife and three children.

The children are aged 20, the boy is 20.

He spoke to them as they were trapped.

She said her husband was talking to the emergency people.

They said, they are coming to get us, but the heat

I said, get a wet blanket, but the kids on the floor

She said, we can't do it, because the smoke is killing us,

The smoke is coming through the doors.

She is keeping covering it, but it is heavy.

That was the last time we have heard from her.

For those on the lower floors that did make it out,

I woke up at about 12.45, hearing, help me, a woman screaming, my baby,

The police were knocking on the doors, evacuate, evacuate.

We thought we had to get the hell out of here, it is going up.

Ed was saved by his friend calling him and telling him to leave.

The smoke was so thick, you couldn't see anything.

I got three quarters of the way and then I was using my hands

I began thinking to myself, this is going to be me, you know?

I'm going to die of smoke inhalation.

There was actually a fireman lying on the ground.

He just touched my foot and led me to wear the fire exit was.

Ed was instrumental in raising concerns about the safety

This accident never needed to happen.

If people had listened to what we were saying,

what the blog was saying, what members of the

This accident never needed to happen.

Inside the centre, those waiting for news or that have

lost their homes are covered downstairs in the hall.

As you can imagine, it is a fairly distressing situation.

At times, people are sobbing as they wait for news.

News that, at this stage, will possibly not be good news.

They are getting help with housing, with food, and the medical help.

Now, it is not just the burned-out building that looms over this

community, but the fear that they will hear that many more

No doubt we are going to be facing, I think, some sad use in the hours

ahead because that recovery and -- that recovery operation is still

going on. Let's speak to somebody who has been helping today,

providing spiritual help as well as a shoulder to climb on -- a shoulder

to cry on, the local bishop. You have been providing some help to the

firemen and the emergency service crews who have been in there. We

often overlook the fact they have to deal with this traumatic situations

as well. Exactly, right around the tower block there are Fire Service,

ambulance, police, all of whom are dealing with the immediate issue

themselves, trying to put out the fire and to see what can be done

with the fire antibodies that are inside. I have been spending the day

along with quite a lot of the clergy locally being around them, giving

them someone to talk to, and I think I have appreciated someone giving

their time to listen to their stories and allowing them to

unburden themselves of some of the things they have had to do today. A

lot of the people in the early hours lot of the people in the early hours

work on adrenaline, trying to get themselves to safety. Tonight, they

will be processing what they have been through. Tell us of some of the

stories you have heard and what people are doing? Some of them are

pretty grim stories, firefighters going into the building, not only

coping with the heat and the water jets are there on the hottest day of

the year, but also having to step over bodies and having to manage the

trauma of that kind of thing. Many of them are used to it. They are

extraordinarily professional and one of the things that struck me was how

Carmel. But also I think many of them realised that in the days to

come a lot of the memories that have affected them to day will come back.

They have been through this, not on this scale before, firefighters who

have been firefighters for 30 years and have never seen this before.

Indeed, we heard from the commander in charge of the London Fire Brigade

today and she said she has been in the service for 29 years and have

never seen anything like this in a never seen anything like this in a

high-rise building. What about accommodation? There are concerns

that there is not enough accommodation for people. I have

just been down to Saint Clement Church which has been open all day,

since 3am, and they have been providing people with space but most

of the people that have been there have been taken to the Westway

Centre and two other places for accommodation. A lot of other

churches locally have set themselves up as places that people can stay.

St John's in Notting Hill have set aside 40 beds in the body of the

church will people to stay in. My hope is, the council have told us

that accommodation has been found. Whether we actually, whether that is

actually true, I guess we will know tomorrow morning. Of course, it is

not only those in the block. It is people around as well. It is mostly

that, actually. Most of the people who need a bed are those who have

been evacuated from the local area. I was speaking to one family who

were evacuated in the middle of the night last night, came out with no

clothes, no anything, the mother had to leave her medication in the flat

and they are beginning to worry about what happens when the

medication wears off tomorrow. There are a lot of distrust people around.

Of course, you get to know the -- there are a lot of distressed people

around. Of course you get to know the local community. I was speaking

to one of our Filipino priest 's early today and he is anxious about

a lot of his people who he knows where in the building that he hasn't

spoken to. There are also good news stories, speaking to a fireman who

brought out a survivor at 9am, up on one of the upper floors, the door

opens and an elderly gentleman walks out, sounded like he was blind and

they were able to take him out and get him out safely. One of the last

out of the building. So there are good news stories like that but I

suspect there will be a lot worse to come. Thank you for ending on a good

news story. Thank you for talking to us. I should just say, if you do

want to know anything about anyone who was trapped in the building,

there is a number. Well, obviously we have heard from

people who have been helping out here today. There will be an awful

lot of questions as well about buildings of this nature, high-rise

buildings, particularly old buildings. This one was built in

1973 and only has one stairwell in and out, one exit route for those

people on the upper floors, and there will be a lot of questions

asked about building regulations in the wake of this. David Shankman has

been looking at what might be discussed in this about.

The wreckage of Grenfell House stands amid a cluster

Like many cities around the world, London has seen

Homes and offices, perched high above street level,

with a host of safety rules designed to resist fire.

But eight years ago, a blaze at this tower block in south

Southwark Council was fined for breaching fire regulations.

And there are plenty of expert voices today saying

that the lessons of what happened here at Lakanal House

Lakanal House demonstrated that people were at risk

The fire in west London last night, this morning, as demonstrated

that they are still at risk in their own homes.

These fires shouldn't be happening in 21st-century London.

We've got the ability to stop them from happening,

and when fires do break out, to restrict them to small areas

One key question in the spotlight today is about the design of tower

blocks, and how they are meant to keep people safe

Normally, a fire hose can only reach about 15 metres.

Grenfell Tower stands 67 metres high.

In America, they rely on what is called "active safety".

Sprinklers fight fires in every room, but that can be expensive.

The basic principle here, until recently, has been passive

safety, designing the building to confine any blaze

Another focus will be on the cladding fitted

to the outside of the building panels to improve insulation

and the look of older buildings like Grenfell Tower.

But dozens of fires have been linked to cladding around the world.

Two years ago, a skyscraper in Dubai caught fire,

New rules there have tightened up on the kind

Investigators here will explore what role the cladding might have played.

In the UK, it has to be what we call of limited combustibility.

I am sure that is going to be questioned now, after this fire.

What exactly that means, and what these types of cladding

systems are adding to the fire load on the building.

It was after the Second World War that councils and said

by moving away from old terraced homes coming to new

But their safety from fire depends on good design and care for.

London their says people living in tower blocks will now

-- The London Mayor says people living in tower blocks

need to be reassured, and fire professionals are shocked

Literally every single floor was on fire, internally.

You see one floor, two floors, and then a hopping

from floor to floor, maybe, over a period of time.

You would not normally see an entire facade on fire,

then all of the interior on fire at the same time.

So, the fire overcame whatever safety features were in place.

Last year, the Government promised a review into fire

safety in tower blocks, but then delayed it.

This disaster now makes that work a priority.

Let's speak to Simon Lay - he's the UK Representative

for the Council on Tall Buildings - which is an international

He joins us from our studio in Salford.

What do you think went wrong? It is really too early to say. Any tragedy

like this tends to be the result of a combination of a number of

factors. There is a lot of talk about things like the facade but

really it is too early to tell what has gone wrong. Not jumping to

conclusions but many people are talking about this rental planning.

Has there been a debate about this cladding, have they been other fires

worldwide where concerns have been raised? With cladding systems, they

are incredibly complicated. They may look simple on the outside but the

details behind it and how they attach to a building is very

complex. These types of cladding systems, using aluminium panels,

composite panels, are common around the world. In some cases there have

been issues with them and in other cases they can be designed to be

safe. It comes down to the details. Many people perhaps who do not live

in high-rise blocks but who work in high-rise office buildings would be

quite surprised that there is only one exit out of a building like this

and no sprinkler system. It is perfectly normal until a few years

ago in the UK to design a high-rise building without sprinklers. They

were introduced in other buildings around the world for many reasons

but the data in the UK just did not supported, did not suggest there was

a need to introduce sprinklers. Also having a single sack -- staircase in

a building in the UK is normal practice, and what we have done for

a long time. It had not shown any significant impact on fire safety. I

can see two or three other apartment blocks and I dare say many people

living in those will be nervous this evening. I'm sure people will feel

nervous. I would say each building is different, each building is an

individual. And people really should not feel nervous. Living in a

high-rise building in the UK whether old or new is one of the safest

places to live. Simply because we spend a lot of time and attention

looking after them, looking at them and worrying about how they are

designed from a fire point of view. Thank you very much. Andy Slaughter

is the MP for Hammersmith, the neighbouring constituency. This

constituency is Kensington. So you're in Hammersmith and you have

had an issue like this yourself on Shepherd's Bush Green just a year

ago, what kind of things were discussed after that fire that might

appertain to what has happened here? We looked at three main issues, the

cause, it was unsafe electrical appliances. And secondly whether

there were specific issues to this particular tower block, here I know

they had been concerns raised by the residents. But I do not want to

speculate about both. Then you look at the longer term issues and the

defining characteristic of this terrible tragedy is the way that the

fire spread. Although there were a number of flats damaged in the

Shepherd's Bush via last August, it was contained by the Fire Services

and thankfully we only had minor injuries. He clearly a number of

fatalities. Just to ask about that stay put instruction, historically

that was in place to stop people filling up stairwells and enable

fire officers to get up the stairs as quickly as possible. But at some

point during a fire like this they have to change the instructions? The

received wisdom for the 30 years I have been involved is that tower

blocks are inherently safe because if a fire starts then it can be

contained within one or two flats. So the Fire Services can get there

and deal with it. That is why I think that advice is given. Clearly

hear the spread was so intense and so fast, the emergency services

could not get up to those flaws and people simply did not have time to

do anything. And without an intercom system to change and instructions

officers would have to go door-to-door and tell people to

clear out. All that will no doubt come out in what will be a

substantial enquiry because this is a national tragedy on a huge scale.

The whole of London is in shock. This is a very close and diverse

community. And people have come together today fantastically. And

people in my constituency just 200 yards away have been here offering

help. But many questions to be asked and so much uncertainty amongst

people living in similar blocks. I know Hammersmith Council has put out

a letter to many living in similar blocks nearby today to give them

some reassurance. That will have to happen, inspections but also the

investigation into whether there are inherent problems with either the

construction or cladding of whenever it is that about this tragedy to

happen. You were with me earlier when one resident from a

neighbouring block said he had nowhere to go and there are some

frustration it would seem that Kensington and Chelsea Council are

not providing the accommodation people need. I know you have made

some phone calls so what can you tell us? What I have been told is

also the most vulnerable are being put up in hotels, people with young

children or elderly or sick, otherwise people are only being

offered resting centres. If that is right, I do not think that is

sufficient. I spoke to my own counsel, Hammersmith, and they have

helped to source accommodation. Many people are out of their homes for

perhaps a couple of nights, the homes that had not been damaged but

considered not to be saved as a precaution to return to tonight. So

I would say to Kensington Council, one of the richest councils and the

country, that those offers are there and they should have the resources

to offer a decent bed to everyone put out of their homes tonight. And

I hope they will do that. There has been some political finger-pointing

already but just briefly, Jeremy Corbyn saying they will look at

preventative measures, look at fire staffing of cause and also building

regulations and it is especially those building regulations, there

was supposed to be a review of that since 2010 and it has not happened.

I think there has been, all public services have been dramatically

reduced in the past seven years. Local authorities and the Fire

Service and many other bodies. People are looking not to take on

responsibilities that they would have in the past. That has to stop.

It is not just responding to fire, I think the fire brigade did

brilliantly last night but it is all those inspections, making sure there

are the right materials and sprinkler systems, if nothing else

comes from this tragedy I hope we will do that and provide those

resources to do that now. There will be a public clamour for that. Thank

you very much. Just to tell you a bit about the casualties. 12 people

confirmed to have died and more than 70 treated at six hospitals nearby.

A major incident has been declared. 100 medical staff have been working

flat out through the course of the day helping people who the bus

hospitals. 18 of them still we are told in critical condition.

Our Medical Correspondent Fergus Walsh reports

from St Mary's Hospital in Paddington.

I think we're struggling to bring about package. Let's talk about Tom

Symons, he has Bolivia reports as to what the investigation into Grenfell

Tower might be looking at. That is what some residents

believe Grenfell Tower was. Friends and relatives dead,

injured fighting for their lives. They say, we told you

something was going to The proof of that

was not hard to find. This is a blog by

the tower's residents We have repeatedly

reported concerns to the Tenant Management Organisation of

the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, including fire safety

concerns that were not investigated Management Organisation in

the 1990s, but complaints followed. They included concerns

about this advice to residents, to stay put inside

a flat if there was a fire outside. There were also reports of faulty

safety equipment, power surges and Following what happened here,

the management was issued with an enforcement order

by the fire brigade. It set out a string of failings,

failings to ensure preventative measures

to properly assess the risk. Failure to offer a well

marked escape route. People were angry then,

now they are furious. Some of his friends lived

at the Grenfell Tower. They changed the doors,

the fire doors, which they He has a smoke alarm

in his flat but he's central fire alarm, a concern also

raised at the Grenfell fire. It was last given

a comprehensive fire risk assessment 18 months ago

during its refurbishment when it was covered

with new cladding, a common process, so the government has ordered

wider checks tonight. We discussed with local authorities

and the Fire Service of process where we seek to identify towers

that might have had a similar process of refurbishment. And do

that as quickly as possible to give reassurance to people. The

investigation will begin once the exhausting task of putting out the

inferno at the Grenfell Tower is complete. Getting to the bottom of

why it spread so fast could take months.

200 fire officers responded within minutes. And they were the people

running up the stairs and we sometimes overlook their bravery.

Bob Parkinson is a former fire officer and joins us from our

Blackburn studio. Give us an idea of what firefighters face when they go

into a building that is burning like this. It is difficult to move

around, basically, going into an area that is full of black fog. This

black smoke. If you imagine fog, very heavy fog, but it is black, you

cannot see a thing. So when you move around unless you have imaging

cameras then you can only feel your way around very often. And obviously

you cannot breathe in that smoke, it is quite poisonous. And so

firefighters wearing breathing apparatus to be able to go into the

atmosphere to carry a search and rescue and firefighting. And it is

arduous and the breathing apparatus has a limited life depending on the

size of the air cylinder. And also on how hard the firefighter is

working if he's having to go ten flights, 25 to stairs through the

smoke with breathing apparatus on, then that is going to use up a

considerable amount of air. So by the time they arrived at the droid

they need to be at, sometimes or often they cannot stay long because

of insufficient air to carry out whatever procedures they are going

to carry out. And then they have to get out of there before the air runs

out or at least before what is called the time of the whistle which

basically is a safety margin with a small amount of reserve air. And

getting water to the top floor is obviously is the biggest problem. We

know they could get watered last night to the 12 floors, the first

12, but after that point, what do you do to get water onto the fire in

the upper floors? In the current build situation there are what they

call risers, dry and wet risers, you would find dry risers in their

buildings and wet risers in higher buildings and basically a wet writer

is a pipe going up through the staircase through each floor. And it

is permanently charged with water. At each level you have landing

valves were firefighters can connect their homes into that at each level.

So the system should be designed to provide water to every level in the

flats. And so they do not need to carry heavy hoses and drag those up

staircases and things like that. Thank you very much for talking to

us. Another fire officer has direct experience of what happened here,

Wayne Brown is deputy assistant chief of the London Fire Brigade.

There has obviously been much gratitude for your men and what

they've done in the past 20 hours. What can you tell us about the

building at the moment? Currently the fire crews are working hard to

damp down any small pockets of fire that remain within the block. We're

working closely with the local authority and other partners to make

sure we go through systematically as part of the fire investigation into

what might have been the cause. And the structural integrity of the

building is of utmost importance to us. We're working closely with local

authorities structural engineers to make sure the structural integrity

of the building is such that our crews can carry on working in the

building. When we look at helicopter pictures we can see there are still

pockets of fire still burning. Yes, a building of this size, a fire of

this magnitude, there are still pockets of fire remaining. We have

got that under control and we are currently working hard to make sure

any small pockets of fire are extinguished as soon as possible.

Earlier the commander said you have been able to take advantage of

drones supplied by I think the Kent Fire Brigade. What did they enable

you to do? Will work closely with all bluelight partners and other

Fire And Rescue Services around the country. Kent Fire and Rescue

Service kindly offered the use of their drones which means we can get

close to the building and get some good images of the damage or any

small pockets of fire or phrases were someone could be still within

the building that we could not see from the ground. We have images from

the police helicopter but also because of downdraught we cannot get

too close with a helicopter itself. So the drones gamers some footage.

The residents told us you were incredible, your men will hear

within just under six minutes. But some of them said there was a

problem getting all the trucks working, sourcing water. Was that an

issue? All the firefighters both men and women have worked tirelessly to

date since the early hours of the morning to extinguish the fire. The

fire spread rapidly and developed throughout the building, at that

stage we tried to supplement the water supplies. As part of that we

draw on the water mains from around the local area and sometimes that

can cause a bit of pressure within the mains. But we had no reports of

any issues with water. We managed to get water to the incident and

because the size of the building is difficult at the higher you go, to

get good water pressure. But the fire crews worked really hard in

really difficult circumstances and carried out some fantastic work

today. Rescuing many members of the public. We just heard from a former

fire officer what it is like to go up the stairwell is when they're

filled with smoke. You reach the top floor of the building but that does

not necessarily mean you have been able to search the top floors. That

is correct, it is a building of 24 floors, many flats within

that. We managed to get to the top of the building working in difficult

conditions and smoke and heat. There has obviously been a lot of debris

in the building itself is a part of the ongoing work will be to make

sure we systematically searched all the remaining floors that are

contained within the building. Would it be the case that in a building

like this and particularly on the upper floors, the windows would not

open fully and does that make it difficult to escape and difficult

for you to get in and help? Usually within a building of this size, we

do not, the local fire engineering solutions to the building to not

allow for upper floor windows to fully open for obvious reasons. The

fire development is something that will be part of the investigation

and we cannot really comment on whether anything that was within the

building has played a part in the actual fire development itself. That

will be part of the ongoing investigation. Your men have been a

credit to the service. Thank you very much. Well there has been

plenty of political reaction today. Alex Forsyth is at Westminster. What

are they saying that are once again politicians finding themselves

paying tribute to the work of the emergency services because they're

having to deal with another significant incident. In a statement

this morning the Prime Minister said her thoughts were with those working

tirelessly in very difficult circumstances. She said she was

deeply saddened by the loss of life. As you would expect she's been kept

briefed throughout the day, there was a cross government meeting to

coordinate the government response and make sure the emergency services

are getting the support they need. That was chaired by the police and

Fire Minister Nick Hurd and he gave an update on what happened at that

meeting just as it concluded earlier. There are people out there

who will need reassurance. We have discussed with local authorities and

the Fire Service a process whereby we seek to identify towers that

might be in a similar process of refurbishment, and run a system of

checks as quickly as possible to give reassurance to people. The

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has already suggested they may be

questioned over whether enough preventative measures were taken in

the past and whether or not local authorities, some of whom have

responsibility for these tower blocks in the UK, had adequate

resourcing to make sure all the relevant fire regulations were in

place. But he said questions would come tomorrow because the focus now

is on getting the support to those who needed. This is Jeremy Corbyn.

Totally shocked by, this is the worst nightmare anyone can think of,

fire in a tower block and sympathy, support, solidarity to all those

stuck in the tower or who have managed to be rescued or who have

lost loved ones or do not know what has happened to their friends and

family. And a huge thank you to the Fire Service, police and ambulance

and all other emergency services that got there so quickly. We are

likely to hear more questions about what could or should have been done

in the coming days but for now the focus from politicians is on those

who in the immediate aftermath of this huge incident are needing great

support. The fire brigade just moving in,

another control unit behind us there. On its way to the perimeter

at Grenfell Tower. Just to return to politics for a second because Tim

Farron was under a certain amount of political pressure after the

election result and today we understand he has stood down and

made a statement. Let's have a listen to that. Journalists have

every right to ask what they see fit. The consequences of focus on my

face is that I found myself torn between living as a faithful

Christian and serving as a leader. A better, wiser person than me may

have been able to deal with this war successfully, to remain faithful to

Christ while leading a political party in the current environment. To

be a political leader especially a progressive, liberal party in 2017

and to live as a committed Christian, to hold faithfully to the

teachings of the Bible has felt impossible for me.

Tim Farron speaking earlier. Standing down as the leader of the

Liberal Democrats. And leadership battle will now pursue. Let's return

to local politics. There will be a big debate about the kind of social

housing that we should provide in cities like London. Professor Peter

Reid 's is the city planning officer for the City of London. Good evening

to you. Good evening and can I start by adding my sympathy to those

affected by this tragedy and my admiration for those of the

emergency services who have put themselves in danger to help. Let's

just talk a little bit about high-rise buildings. Many people

might be in high-rise buildings in London tonight and will feel very

nervous. I shall be returning after this interview and going to bed on

the 27th floor of a high-rise block in the City of London and I will

sleep soundly tonight. Because high-rise buildings are not

inherently dangerous. Why are buildings like this, someone told me

it was built in 1973 so it is quite old but had it been built a few

years earlier there been concerns about its structural integrity. This

is still standing despite the intensity of the fire, why is that?

The method of construction has a lot to do with this, if you have a

building with a concrete core which are good building should have

because that concrete shaft in the middle protect both were escaping

through the stairs from the fire around them, it also reinforces the

building and allows it to stand. Buildings have for considerable

length of time been designed so they do not collapse even in an intense

fire like this. But of course many other things can be improved in

buildings and as technology has progressed, so buildings have become

even safer. For instance the building I live in, even though it

is a residential, is fitted with sprinklers which is something quite

rare in residential buildings. And has only been quite a recent

introduction. Grenfell Tower for those who have been watching us this

evening, this is how it looks, blackened, a shell of what it was.

And of course structural engineers will need to keep an eye on it over

the course of the next 24 hours at and at the moment is structurally

safe. You're watching BBC News. We're going to be continuing with

our coverage here from Kensington this evening. Plenty more reaction

on why this fire happened and what kind of things can be changed in the

future to stop it happening again. I think we can bring Professor Rhys

Bacchin. -- back in. We were just talking about these older buildings.

But a high-rise building like this if it was being built today, would

it just have one stairwell exit? Yes, the building that I live in

which was completed about three years ago and has 280 apartments,

has only one staircase. Of course the staircase is contained within a

concrete shaft to protect it from fire and smoke doors are fitted to

keep the smoke out of the escape stairs. What perhaps might be

different these days is to have special fire lit, taken over by the

Fire Service in an emergency. -- Fire lifts. Of course people must

not use lifts an emergency but a lift is often provided these days

for the Fire Service to get the building quickly without having to

run against the flow of people trying to escape down the staircase

which is often a great impediment to emergency services and to those

trying to escape. Good to get your thoughts, thank you. And plenty more

reaction from here in North Kensington. The building behind me

continuing to smoulder and the fire brigade still working on the

building. Let's get some weather news with Matt Taylor.

It has been a day of above average temperatures across much of western

Europe. And here in the UK 27 achieved at Heathrow Airport. Across

Spain and France the heat remains tomorrow but in the UK the cold

front is heading our way to the west. That pushes into Northern

Ireland through the night with outbreaks of rain and breeze. But

away from that most bases drive. And it will be quite humid for the vast

majority tonight. Not dropping much below the mid-teens if at all. So

into Thursday morning, the far west of Wales, West of Scotland, cloudy

with outbreaks of rain but brighter skies moving in quickly through the

morning. Then showers returning for Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Temperatures pushing up quite quickly through the east of England.

It is a fresher day compared with today across the Channel Islands,

south-west England and Wales but it should be dry and sunny in the

afternoon and pleasant. 22 degrees by mid afternoon around London but

temptress picking at 25 of four things turn fresher later on.

Through Northern Ireland and Scotland the shower is more

widespread and pushing through on that breeze. As we go through

Thursday night and into Friday, most dry, slightly fresher night than the

night were about to have but temperatures still in double figures

for the majority. A bright start with good sunny spells, clouding

over in Northern Ireland, Scotland and the North of England. Some rain

around in Scotland. Some brighter skies into the east of Northern

Ireland, lifting temperatures to around 20 degrees through the

afternoon. Into the weekend high pressure is building from the south,

still some cloud and occasional rain in the west of Scotland, perhaps

north-west England. Elsewhere sunny and pleasant. And some spots of rain

around on Sunday but getting hotter. We could have first 30 degrees in

the South East of England. I'm Christian Fraser in West London,

where a huge fire has swept through a tower block killing 12

people - many residents Up to 600 people may have been

in the flats when the blaze broke out in the early hours

of the morning. They read to ring 999, there is a

dedicated line for this incident. Eyewitnesses say they saw people

trapped in their flats, shouting from their windows,

trying to throw their There was smoke everywhere,

literally everywhere. There was people downstairs,

there was bits of the cladding falling off the block

that was on fire. The London Fire Brigade desperately

struggled to reach the upper floors, but were repelled by the heat

and falling debris. Around 70 people are being treated

in six London hospitals, 18 of them Residents are sheltering in nearby

community centres, while others The Archbishop of Canterbury praises

the response of people who've offered food,

water and clothes to those People filling out churches using

the buildings, using horse, whatever centres they can find, bringing

things, working together. Fire crews say it will still be some

hours before it's out. We'll bring you full

details in moment. The plumes of smoke are still rising

into the sky this evening. This is Glenn Foot shower, a shadow of what

it once was, a black and charred carcass. It is structurally sound

for the moment but engineers are keeping an eye on that and the

firefighters who have been here through the course of the day are

still working tirelessly on the building to put up a small pockets

of fire you can see burning in the middle of the building. It will be,

I would think, a day or so before they will be able to work through

the various apartments that are, at the moment unreachable in that

apartment block. We know 12 people have been killed. Over 70 people

were taken to hospital and we have been told by the London Ambulance

Service, 18 people remain in critical condition. The police are

warning us there may be more victims in the hours ahead. So more sad news

expected here at North Kensington. Let's take a look at the

surroundings and bring you up to speed with where we are in North

Kensington. This is Grenfell Tower, part of a housing complex near the

Westfield shopping centre. It is 24 stories high and in it where 120

flats which were arranged over 20 residential floors. Up to 600 people

may have been inside when the fire broke out. Most would have been

asleep because the fire broke out just before 1am. The cause of the

fire isn't known but we know it the alarm was raised just before 1am and

the fire crews were on the scene six minutes after being called. Over 200

firefighters working around the clock since then. Up to 20 hours

they have been working to put out the fires.

It is a tragedy that plays to our darkest fears.

There was people downstairs, bits of cladding falling off the block.

The fire started between midnight and 1am.

The screams from the flats and the acrid smell of burning,

It was just people jumping out, literally.

And putting sheets down to try to get out of the building.

Windows exploding, big, massive pieces of debris

We came here, saw people jumping off.

People had jumped off because they had no other option.

Someone was on fire and he jumped too.

Some people picked up their children and threw them out for the police

to pick them up because there was no other way out of the building.

I saw kids at the window shouting, help me, help me, I can't breathe.

And all these people have lost people in their lives and I know

The fire raced through the 24 storey council block in this deprived part

On the seventh floor, this family were led to safety

when a fire officer made it up to their flat.

There was smoke everywhere, people screaming.

There was a fireman there going, get out, get out.

I ran back in in my boxer shorts, grabbed the little girl,

put her under my dressing gown to cover her face from the smoke,

got my girlfriend up, running down, got to the fourth floor

This mother and her six-year-old son were also trapped

For a moment, she thought her best option was to jump

through the window with her child in her arms.

For a split second, I had that temptation to jump over

You actually thought about jumping from the building?

And then your husband grabbed you and took you out?

Yes, otherwise, my second thought was to jump.

Many residents have complained to me that the fire alarm was too quiet

to hear and that the blaze raced from the bottom to the top of

All the time we have lived here, they have said if there is a fire,

you have to stay in the flat, the fire can't penetrate

If we had done that, we would have perished.

There was no way that was stopping no fire.

Residents told me that they had complained to the authorities

that the recently refurbished building was a disaster

We tried to take a lot of things to our local MP.

Because if one fire happened, we knew that this would happen.

Deep poverty and extraordinary wealth live by side-by-side in this

The block was home to some of Kensington's poorest families.

With dawn, grim, is expected news, that lives have been lost.

Many people, numb with shock, frantically searched to find missing

This woman's sister and 12-year-old nephew were unaccounted for.

As well as the smoke and the smell of burning,

numb, shock and tension hangs over this area.

In the 21st century, in a country with some

of the strictest fire regulations in the world, a desperate tragedy

Well into the morning, the crowds watching the horror

unfolding in front of them reported seeing people still

A man was eventually brought out by the emergency services at noon.

This off-duty nurse helped tend to some of the injured

I have seen some things, but today...

There are mothers that have come out and lost their children.

There are firefighters that have come out injured.

We don't know if they are even going to come out safe.

People have lost their homes, children have seen things,

We just need to rebuild as a community now.

As the community realised the enormity of what had happened,

This woman went to her wardrobe, grabbed a bag of her own clothes

A bag of clothes, to me, is nothing, when I can help somebody else.

This is a community where a lot of people don't have a lot.

We are heartbroken for our community.

This is a disaster for this community.

But we are pulling together, the people that have nothing,

we are giving things to people that have nothing.

Sadly I can confirm that there are now 12

people that have died, that we know of.

This will be a long and complex recovery operation.

I do anticipate that the number of fatalities will, sadly,

This is a neighbourhood that feels ignored.

We have a number of high-rise buildings here and in

We do have to meet stringent safety standards, and in a refurbishment

there will be a thorough inspection by the fire authorities.

It clearly hasn't, we will have to get the bottom

The Mayor of London promised there will be a thorough

and independent investigation into what happened.

My thoughts and prayers, as I am sure the thoughts

and prayers the entire country, with the family and friends of those

in the building and affected by this and horrific fire.

I would also pay tribute to the amazing emergency services,

from the Fire Service, we have more than 250 firefighters,

many of whom have been here since the beginning.

The streets of North Kensington are littered with ashes.

The charred ashes of homework of a school child.

But the neighbourhood is also scarred by grief that will not

Quite a lot of activity here tonight. Many of the Fire Services

are changing over. You did point out in my interview with the deputy fire

chief, I did refer to firemen, but there have been men and women,

firefighters going into the building. I am happy to correct

that. Here with me now is Carrie Hirst

from the Kensington She manages a project called

Community Champions in the local area and they've been

helping out today. We are funded by public health and

we are based in Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster. We are

community hubs so the project I manages for the Notting Dale Ward,

which is here and we work with the residents who live on the estates.

Obviously today, the news has been very upsetting. Tell us about some

of the people you have come across, they have lost everything? They

have, but community spirit, as ever is an incredible thing. All the

local organisations in the area have been inundated with donations and

offers of support. We had so many volunteers are all desperate to help

however they can. It has been incredible. Are you comfortable that

the night everybody has a bed? There are lots of different centres in the

area offering space. I am sleeping at the Westway tonight, where we

have a whole group of people bear. The James Hunt and ruby Portobello.

You have camp beds? Yes, mattresses, pillows, sleeping bags. We are not

sure what to expect. They are being referred to as by housing

organisations and friends and family who went affected by the fire, but

they were inside the cordoned. Hundreds of people but don't have a

home the night, so we will be working through the night. Are there

people coming from centre to centre still looking for people? There are.

But I think by now, the majority of people have an answer or at least

they know what to do in order to find that missing person. There is a

number they can call, the centres have information and there is people

in the street to help. Lots of people around the country want to

help. It sounds like you have what you need in the immediate term,

food, drink and clothing, what can they do? Keep updated with what is

going on through social media, to Kensington town Hall website, the

volunteer Centre will be updating Twitter. And we will be here on the

ground updating what's necessary, what the organisations need, what

the residents need. But for now, we have a lot of donations and a lot of

manpower. Thank you for talking to us. It is good work you are doing

and I'm sure you will be busy in days ahead.

Well, throughout the night stories emerged of people who'd

escaped the tower block and watched the fire as it swept

Many are now being sheltered in nearby community centres.

And that's where family and friends of those

who are missing are also heading, going from centre to centre

Our Special Correspondent Lucy Manning has been talking

to the families caught up in the tragedy.

The air was punctuated with the sound of crying.

They gathered outside the community centre.

The one thing nobody could offer was good news.

For this family, it was, understandably, to much.

My mum, my sister, her daughters and husband.

I don't know if they are out, we don't have any information.

Susan gave us this picture of her three smiling neices.

You haven't been able to contact them?

I phoned my sister when she was in, all I could hear was screaming.

I was trying to tell her, get out, get to the nearest fire exit.

The police officers heard me shouting on the phone.

I really just wanted to go in there, basically, do something.

In the last hour, she heard news that someone might have

After the panic of the night, the day brought only silence.

I haven't seen my brother-in-law, his wife and three children.

The children are aged 20, the boy is 20.

He spoke to them as they were trapped.

She said her husband was talking to the emergency people.

They said, they are coming to get us, but the heat

I said, get a wet blanket, put the kids on the floor

She said, we can't do it, because the smoke is killing us,

The smoke is coming through the doors.

She is keeping covering it, but it is heavy.

That was the last time we have heard from her.

For those on the lower floors that did make it out,

I woke up at about 12.45, hearing, help me, a woman screaming, my baby,

The police were knocking on the doors, evacuate, evacuate.

We felt we had to get the hell out of here, it is going up.

Ed was saved by his friend calling him and telling him to leave.

The smoke was so thick, you couldn't see anything.

I got three quarters of the way and then I was using my hands

I began thinking to myself, this is going to be me, you know?

I'm going to die of smoke inhalation.

There was actually a fireman lying on the ground.

He just touched my foot and led me to wear the fire exit was.

He just touched my foot and led me to where the fire exit was.

Ed was instrumental in raising concerns about the safety

This accident never needed to happen.

If people listened to what we were saying,

what the blog were saying, what members of the

Inside the centre, those waiting for news or have

lost their homes are gathered downstairs in the hall.

As you can imagine, it is a fairly distressing situation.

At times, people are sobbing as they wait for news.

News that, at this stage, will possibly not be good news.

They are getting help with housing, with food, and the medical help.

Now, it is not just the burned-out building that looms over this

community, but the fear that they will hear that many more

There may be plenty of sad days ahead but there is anger as well.

There were concerns about the safety of this building as far back as

November. Some of you may have seen on social media, excerpts from a

blog. The grand fell action group said there were problems with entry

and exit, they have problems with the improvement works, the

evacuation procedures, emergency lighting and access for emergency

vehicles. After the fire, the group posted today, all our warnings fell

on deaf ears and we predicted a catastrophe like this was inevitable

and just a matter of time. The criticism was aimed at the group who

manages the block. It is managed by the Kensington and Chelsea

management organisation and on behalf of them, Robert Blake has

given this statement. It is hard for me to comment about anything at the

moment because of the investigation. If you listen to the police and the

fire brigade, just before I came here, they are saying the same

thing. They are still putting the fire out, still trying to find homes

for people to go to the night. Still trying to find everybody. What we

are trying to do is on the ground, put support in place to address

these things. That is my key focus. All the rest we will be addressing

in the mastication. Do you think the stay in the flat instruction was

partly to blame for the loss of life? I don't know how to answer

that because I don't know the consequences, where or how the lives

were lost. All I am saying is, across London and other places, you

have a staple policy because that is what the fire brigade advise. There

was a message to inside housing about the blog not being inspected

for 18 month well the inspection took place, were certain things

behind schedule, do you think? I cannot mention specifics because

they will be looked into. It doesn't sound like anything I know. I know

some of the alarms had to be hard-wired in the flats, I just

wonder if that work had been completed? Any work that was done

during the refurbishment was completed and signed off and that is

our position. That is what we will be able to show as we go through

this enquiry. So there were all hard-wired, the alarms? I cannot

really answer at the moment. I don't know the details. I am just trying

to provide assurance and make sure people are safe. Do you know how

many people were in at the time? We wouldn't know that, 140 flats,

people come and go. We still try to find out where these people are

because they were in different places. That was Robert Black from

the Kensington and Chelsea tenant management organisation. We are

expecting to hear from the Prime Minister in the next few minutes. I

can tell you she is promising a full and proper investigation. She has

been kept abreast of events here through the course of the day. So a

full and proper investigation is what the Prime Minister is

promising. Here with me now is

Professor Tony Travers We have just been listening to

Robert Black from the management organisation which tells us how

these blocks are run, it is a complex organisational structure?

Yes, people will remember councils running council houses. In some

cases, local authorities gave over the housing to housing associations,

not-for-profit companies and in this case and a number of others, to a

tenant management organisation, arms length from the council, separate

and responsible for the work on it. Nevertheless, running the housing as

if for the Council. So there is still a link back to the council

because it is their property. It is them who are responsible for

nominating tenants into the building. OK, but where does the

book fall? It is complicated and too early to draw any conclusions

because in an incident like this, the Fire Brigade will have

responsibilities for giving advice on how a building like this should

be protected against fire. The organisation that runs it, the

management organisation will be responsible for reacting to that and

then the Fire Brigade to inspecting that. All of this within central

government setting rules to do with building standards. When the Prime

Minister promises an enquiry, it will have to look at all of these

aspects of it, because you have different levels of government

involved. Obviously, there have been concerns expressed by the residents,

which we were just talking about. What happens if a group like this

just ignores them? We mustn't prejudge any of this because I am

sure any group of tenants living in a block like this will have

complaints from time to time. An enquiry would have to look at the

complaints made and see whether there was an appropriate response to

the concerns as expressed. That is why an enquiry, first by the Fire

Brigade I am guessing, and then, as the Prime Minister has announced, is

essential to get to the bottom of what happened. We need to look at

this over a short time, but with detailed enquiries so it is possible

to see where the responsibility lies. The MP for Hammersmith, who

was with me earlier was saying it is going to get more complex in social

housing blocks like this because of the Right to Buy scheme. When you

have an organisation which manages the block, they do renovations for

the whole block but when you have somebody who has their own

apartment, maybe they don't do the same renovations as the organisation

might? It is possible. In other homes, there will be different

safety standards than there would be inside a council house. It is all

these aspects of this complex issue which will have to be reviewed in

order to get to the bottom of why such a tragedy could possibly occur.

Different parts of government and their responsibilities will have to

be investigated. On a huge renovation project we saw a year

ago, who is it ultimately that approves the renovation and signs it

off? Is it the group of the council? I cannot answer that for 100%, I

thought it would be the tenant's group, the tenant management group

would do that. But again, that is something that will be investigated.

OK, thank you very much. Obviously there will be lessons

learned and to see if it could be avoided. There have been reviews

taken place in the past and we hoped lessons would be learned. Tom

Edwards has been looking back. Knowing full well this isn't going

to end well, it is heartbreaking. Angela lives on the 19th floor in

the block opposite Grenfell Tower. After last night she is concerned

about the fire risk in her own building. The first thing that came

to my mind at 3am what is that security protocol for this building

it some other similar happen? What would he do, word with the go? This

raises questions about London's housing stock. The last major fatal

fire was a Lakanal House in Southwark in 2009. Six people died.

After that the coroner made recommendations that the government

should clarify if residents should stay put a get out if there is a

fire. Councils should retrofit sprinklers and simplify building

regulations about what can be changed. The chances of getting a

fire are very low... In 2010 the London assembly also highlighted

concerns about the capital's high-rise housing stock. We found

there is a relatively low risk of having a fire in a tall building.

You are fairly safe. But the big problem is, if there is fired then

advise is often not given about the right way to behave. Landlords are

probably not giving enough information to their tenants and

perhaps councils not giving enough advice to the landlords. According

to City Hall, about 8% of London's population live in blocks of flats

over 11 stories tall, around 690,000 people. Most were built in the late

60s and early 70s, but more are now being planned for the future as the

capital grows. There have been changes, Southwark Council says it

gives a regular fire risk assessment to its blocks. The fire unions and

campaigners have, for many years, been calling for the government to

review building regulations. Lessons have not been learned. Today is an

absolute tragedy and it is caused by the lack of proper regulation of

refurbishment standards. The government have been pressed for a

number of years by the all-party Parliamentary committee on safety.

To do a review of the building regulations to test the integrity of

materials that are used in refurbishment is and they have

continually put this off. The government says that work is still

ongoing and checks will now be carried out on blocks going through

similar refurbishment. But there is now anger and questions. What

happened in Lakanal House, after it had been refurbished, the

refurbishment had compromised the fire compartmentalised nation and

the fire spread. It looks like that is what has happened in Granville

house, it has been refurbished and the compartmentalisation of the fire

has been compromised so it has spread and people have lost their

lives. There has been a lot of publicity around what should be done

about external cladding and what should be done about tower blocks

being fire proved inside properly and a fire should not be spreading

beyond the flat where it breaks out. People should be able to be

evacuated and wait for the Fire Brigade to do with the incident. It

is difficult to see why this has happened and there is not many

excuses for it. This man lives in the block opposite and hasn't been

able to contact a friend who lives in Grunfeld tower. If you move to

the right, you can see where the smoke is about now. That is where

she used to live. While it is unclear why this fire happened, it

is very clear that safeguards failed.

There has been plenty of finger-pointing,...

Let's speak now to Graham Fieldhouse, a consultant fire safety

expert for social housing and was also in the London Fire Brigade high

Why'd you think lessons perhaps have not been learned? One of the issues,

and our condolences go out to the families, one of the issues that

came up was the surface spread of fire from the outside of the

building and it would appear something similar is the case so why

checks done, what fire testing certification was in place and did

the people who are looking at the testing did they have the necessary

skills and expertise to understand what they were looking at? The other

questions is the fire doors. Even if the fire hit a flat, each of the

flats is like a shoe box, they should have given you a 30 minute

protection so when you've stuck next to each other, each should be

protected 30 minutes so the flat front doors should have given

protection. Witness reports say it was full of smoke, where did that

come from, what the Windows on the floor is causing the smoke to get

there was at the doors themselves and the other question is people

saying they did not hear any alarms or have alarms. That should have

been a minimum LD grade three F system. That is the typical one you

might have at home, battery operated stuck on the ceiling. The

recommendations would be for an elderly Grade II, grade D system

which would have been a heat in the kitchen and smoke in the hallway so

if we had those. We will come back to but we are expecting a statement