14/06/2017 Breakfast

Hello, this is Breakfast, with Charlie Stayt

A major incident is declared as a huge fire engulfs a tower block

Firefighters are tackling the blaze at Grenfell Tower near Notting Hill.

Local reports say that residents are trapped in the building.

More than 200 firefighters are at the scene,

We can take you straight in the major fire in a 24 story tower block

in West London. These are the live images you can see now.

This is the Grenfell Tower, a 24-floor block of flats,

And the fire broke out in the early hours of this morning between 12 and

one o'clock. The first call to the Metropolitan police was at 1:15am.

The blaze, you can see now - there are no flames this stage, just

smoke, and you can see the damage done to the building. Let's give you

a sense from the images last night from the early hours of the morning.

You can get a real sense of the scale of the blaze that was

engulfing the building. Let's tell you about who is tackling

the fire at the moment. Around 200 firefighters, 40 fire engines, and

of course London ambulance has sent a number of vehicles and medical

staff to the scene. Our correspondent is at the scene this

morning. Tell us what you can see. Well, you can see the block is still

alight. You can see some flames there. You can see the fire brigade

hosing down the lower reaches of the building. But the fire service said

that this was a blaze reaching from the second floor right up to the

27th floor. It's been a blaze for five hours now. We hear from the

police that there have been a number and a range of injuries but we have

no precise details. We have some very disturbing eyewitness reports

from people nearer the building at the time of the fire. They say they

could hear people screaming for help. We've spoken to people

ourselves who said they could see the flash of mobile phones

apparently signalling through the windows of the building. There are

even some reports of people jumping from the building. What I did see

with my own eyes in the early hours of the morning was the bottom left

of the building, which, small part of it that hasn't been engulfed in

flames - you can see that hydraulic platform with the hose. It was just

behind that, maybe three o'clock or four o'clock in the morning, we

could see a person briefly at the window, a figure, we don't know if

it was a resident - probably a resident, didn't know if it was a

firefighter - briefly came back to the window, and we didn't see that

person again, so hopefully the Fire Brigade, who were in the building

with breathing apparatus, hopefully that person was rescued from the

block, but the fate of quite a few people is unknown at the moment. We

will be coming back to use a constant updates throughout the

morning. We should warn viewers this morning, these pictures are very,

very distressing, and we've heard some distressing eyewitness accounts

as well throughout the night ends this fire has been reported, so we

do warn you that of course there is a live situation, and these pictures

may seem very distressing to viewers watching Breakfast this morning.

Let's speak now to eyewitness Stuart Budd.

What do you know about what happened? Where were you when you

realised the fire had started? I was at home actually. I live around the

block, about three miles away, but I didn't know the magnitude of it. I

basically thought I'd go down there, take a couple of coats and a couple

of bottles of water. I couldn't believe what I had seen. The whole

building was on fire from the bottom to the top. I used to be the postman

in the 80s, and by boys used to box in the gym under there, the boxing

club, so I know the building very well. Honestly, you could hear

people screaming. Bits of the building falling, loud explosions,

things falling, coming out the building, about 20 to 30 metres out,

and the smoke was unbelievable. Like people have said, flashing lights

and tortures and all sorts of stuff, and you can't imagine anyone - I'm

glad people got out. But a friend, he believed his loved ones were

trapped on the 21st, and lost contact at two o'clock, and he was

telling them he didn't think he'd make it out, so I don't know if you

did or didn't, but... You think kids are going to go to school today and

their mates are not going to be there, and people will go to work

and their workmates will not be there. Tell us a little more about

the scene when you arrived. This is around 2am, you said, and by that

point, we were seeing the building pretty much entirely engulfed in

flames, possibly with the exception of the first few flaws. Just

described the scene you saw. I was looking out from the East, I

suppose, and from the top corner of the building, the bit you are

showing on the news now, on the top left, from that triangle shakedown,

it just seemed to be sort of smouldering, but then a shape like

the letter A, just flames were flying out the building. Like in a

big A, all the way from the top to the bottom of the building.

Unbelievable, redhot flames. Honestly, I've never seen anything

like it. We can hear the shock in your voice. I'm cautious this

morning because we've heard some very harrowing eyewitness accounts

of people calling out from the building itself during the course of

those early hours. What can you tell us about people who might be caught

up in this? Well, I could hear screams, but it was hard to know if

they were from people at the bottom of the building or in the building.

There was so much noise going on around the place. You can imagine

all the sirens, the helicopters above. It was pure panic and mayhem,

I've got to tell you. Well, there's not a lot you can say. It's just

awful. You mentioned before that you were a postman, you used to deliver

in that building. Can you give us some sense of the construction of

the building, the lift shafts - the building itself? You walk in. You

know what, I wouldn't like to comment now because it's changed,

they've refurbished it. I haven't been in the building for 25 or 30

years. In the old days, there was a lift, a normal lift shaft. You went

straight in. To all the flats, ten, 12 on each floor. Just the normal...

Normal tower block that you'd find all over Britain. Thank you for your

time this morning. One of the early eyewitnesses who watched as the

flames engulfed the building. If you are just tuning in, we are

keeping you up-to-date on the London tower block fire that began in the

early hours of this morning. This is Grenfell Tower in west London, very

close to Notting Hill. Firefighters are battling now to bring the fire

under control, and of course rescue people who are still trapped inside

this 24 storey tower block in West London. Emergency services are at

the scene, 200 firefighters, we understand, 40 engines, at least 20

ambulance crews, and the emergency services have been deep in people

up-to-date -- keeping people up-to-date on social media. London

Fire Brigade confirmed 40 fire engines and more than 200

firefighters and officers have been called to that tower block fire.

London Ambulance were called at 1:29am to reports of the fire, the

first reports to emergency services at Lancaster West estate. They

continued - we have sent a number of resources to the scene, a hazardous

area response, and 20 ambulances. Let's bring you up to date on what

is happening in the area, very close to the A40. Metropolitan police

confirming the A40 is closed in both directions are a very busy route

into West London and the centre of town, saying, North Kensington

police saying, do avoid the area. The London mayor, Sadiq Khan, has

declared this incident at Grenfell Tower, saying there are 40 fire

engines and 200 firefighters at the scene. An anonymous eyewitness has

told us that he has heard that people have been jumping onto

airbags put on the ground by the fire crews and have survived the

jump. We can talk to another eyewitness now who has seen the

situation unfold overnight. Thank you for joining us On Breakfast. Can

you tell us when you first realised the building was on fire? Yes, it

was around 1:15am when we heard screams through the windows, and one

of my relatives woke up and looked out the window and saw one side of

the building totally aflame, woke us up, and we immediately started

shouting for help and got down to the street and came out towards the

building to see if we could help anyone. And you live near to the

building? Yes, we live about a kilometre away, a short walk. And

obviously people are tuning into this news, waking up to this news

this morning. You've seen some very distressing images, sell as much as

you can to temper that, but to tell us exactly what you were seeing, how

people were being rescued. Well, I met people coming out of the

building, people known to us, family and friends, coming out of their own

accord, three different families that we met who are safely

evacuated, evacuated themselves, and that was in the early hours of the

event. I understand that the stairs became unusable after a certain

amount of time, but we did learn that two people got out around 4:30

a.m., so that was good news, and I've been in the crowds where some

of the survivors have been standing and speaking with people. We were

actively watching one building window on the 11th or 12th floor,

where a man has been seen walking in and out of the room, opening the

window and closing it. That's happening now? That's right. We've

been monitoring that person since probably around 3:45 a.m., Laura

Clark, -- four o'clock, and it was one of the people that we saw

visibly in the building while it was on fire. We understand several

people are still trapped in the building. Have you had any

indication of how many may still be in there, where firefighters are

trying to focus their efforts? They are focusing their efforts on the

lower floors, and understandably, because that's where the water can

reach, and there is a portion of the building which you may be able to

scene, which is relatively unburned, and that's where the person I've

been watching was, and his window is now closed, if indeed it is a man -

I cannot tell - and I cannot confirm any other reports really because I

can only comment on what I've seen with my own eyes, but other people

have said they know of people who did not come out who live there, but

that's just information I've heard second-hand, so I can't confirm it.

Indeed, and this is a very close-knit community, but quite

densely populated community as well in the area, and we understand

people are being told to move community centres to gather while

accommodation is being sought for them. Can you tell us where people

are being directed to go to? As far as I can tell, there are several

different centres around the centre, the Latimer Christian centre, but I

haven't had the specifics of which other areas devoted to gather

survivors Anthony people who may have survived the fire. OK, thank

you very much for your time and your eyewitness accounts are asked on BBC

News. The live images we are showing you

now are a major fire in West London. Let's give you a sense of the

geography. We are in the Latimer Road area in White city. The block

is called Grenfell Tower. You can see the wide shot over London, gives

you a real sense of the scale of this lays. This is a 27 storey

building. This is the area of Notting Hill Gate, not far from

Shepherds Bush. You can see from the wide images, smoke still billowing

from the building, spreading wide across London, so in terms of the

timeline, we understand first indications are of the fire between

12 and one o'clock, in the early hours of this morning. We will show

you now some of the images that were taken. This is around two or three

in the morning. From the people we've spoken to, it would appear the

main part of the fire was in the middle of the building and then

spread to the upper floors. The big question is, of course, about

casualties. There are no official figures at the moment. We know a

number of people have been taken away by ambulance, and we've heard

from eyewitnesses who have spoken to those who have escaped, obviously

wearing night dear. This happened in the middle of the night. A lot of

families lived in the middle of this apartment block. So we are waiting

for confirmation from the emergency services. A major Internet has been

declared and the streets surrounding have been shut down, and the A40 has

been shut down because of the fire and the surrounding areas.

We can give you an idea of the scale of this fire. We can show you the

wider shot from London. This has been taken from the top of Millbank

Tower, just five miles away, so you can see the extent of this flame,

these flames, and this smoke billowing from this building. We

have been told by eyewitnesses throughout the night that the

streets are full of fire engines and unmarked response cars. One

eyewitness, declined to be named, said he had heard explosions coming

from the building. This is the view from five miles away. Another

gentleman has said, from the East End, he can see the smoke from the

fire and were drifting from Shepherds Bush towards Alexandra

Palace, and as Charlie said we haven't had any specific numbers yet

on injuries or people being trapped inside the building or any deaths so

far, but of course we will keep you updated.

Led speak to somebody who lives close to the tower. These are the

images you can see live on the screen. Good morning. When did you

first become aware of the problems? At about 1am this morning I heard

what sounded like shooting sounds, bangs, and lots of police sirens.

Then the length of the sirens extended and increased but I

realised it might be something serious. I looked out my window

expecting to find people with guns, but that was now what we know where

these explosions, that bangs, which got louder. I at quarter past I

looked up rather than down and I saw that the building was in three parts

and I saw that one column on the right hand side was ablaze. So by

1:30am I was downed by the building. Other neighbours and people living

nearby had gathered and we watched the fire spread to the left. Then it

completely engulfed the building. Especially the top half of the

building, it burnt through and then some of the flats you can still see

are ablaze at the moment. Were people emerging from the building in

those early hours? Yes, at the beginning there were people who had

actually escaped from the 16th floor, but it was right at the very

beginning. Then there were people we met later who escaped a little bit

later using the stairwell, but I heard since then that the stairwell

has all been on fire as well, I can't imagine how people would be

able to use them any more to escape, unfortunately. In the last few

minutes we spoke to eyewitnesses locally who said that even as

recently as 4:30am or 5am they could still see people in the building.

What can you tell us about that? Absolutely. People waving mobile

phones, men who were screaming extended calls of help, I heard

little girls screaming for help. It was just awful. That's actually one

of the things that's very peculiar, but it was the still of the night,

completely dark and silent and then I heard this banging sounds, the

sirens, and then I heard people screaming for help. As I was walking

towards the building I heard the sounds intensify, but even from my

window, I live across the road in another flat, I could hear people

screaming "help" in the dead of night. It was horrific, really

traumatic. Should warn people who are joining us this morning that the

fires you can see, that have taken hold in this building in the Latimer

Road area, we are speaking to an eyewitness and inevitably there are

some very grim stories and details emerging. Were you able to see

firefighters who we know where there in force, were they able to get into

the building? We have seen ladders with water being sprayed into the

building, in daylight this morning. Were they able to get into the

building? I can only give you second-hand accounts from people who

were inside the building and met firemen in the stairwell. So they

were inside the building. They successfully retrieved some people

from the building. Obviously the area next to the building is

cordoned off and secure. But I have heard that from people who have been

rescued that they were rescued by the Fire Brigade, so they are in

there and doing the best they can. But the building itself, that's the

difficulty. Apparently the cladding is the reason it spread so fast. I

don't know for sure but the academy was built and then they decided to

upgrade the tower block, which is immediately in front of the academy.

It seems that is what was set ablaze so quickly. In previous years there

were fires but they were contained to one flat and never spread so

quickly before. If we can just go to the images that we saw earlier, the

night-time images, when the fire was at its height. This would have been

when you first saw the blaze. I don't know if you can give us a

sense of the scale of that fire. I mean, you must have been

extraordinary heat. It must have been a terrifying thing to be near?

I've never seen anything like it. I've never witnessed anything like

it. As many people have been saying, they hope they never will again. To

see a building fully ablaze like this, for it to get to this point

without being put out, for it to have reached so many family homes,

unfortunately, for so many people to have not come out. The top part of

the building is completely burned through. No one can understand how

anybody would have escaped from that, unless they got out at the

very beginning stages. Yes, shocking, really. It would appear

that within a short space of time the scale of the problem escalated

very quickly from those early indications. As we understand it,

between 12 and 1am, when the first fire began, at it clearly escalated

very quickly. Very rapidly. Again, this is what I heard second-hand,

but apparently someone on the fourth floor, their refrigerator exploded.

I met their neighbour who said a cane and knocked on their door and

said, my fridge has exploded, get out. So they left the building and

then it just rapidly went through the building. But like I said at the

beginning it was kind of in three parts. It went through one side of

the building, then it started moving towards the left. Yes, very rapidly

it went through. Everyone kept thinking that hopefully the white

columns were concrete and would prevent the spread, but they won't

as far as we can tell. They were burnt away. They were just part of

this new cladding on the outside of the building. Just as we look at the

images this morning in daylight, you were saying about people you know or

people who you have spoken to who know people who have lived in the

apartment block. Can you give us a sense of who was living there. We

have heard reports of many children and families living there. Many

children. Something I will never forget is hearing the children

screaming for help. So for sure lots of children. This area is full of

families, diverse backgrounds, every ethnicity. Every religion, everybody

gets along really well. You've got primary schools, secondary schools

here, churches, mosques, leisure centres. This is a very densely

populated area, so we has affected a lot of people. Nearly everybody in

the surrounding area knows someone personally or has a family member

who was in that building. We really appreciate your time this morning.

That was one of the witnesses who saw as the fire engulfed the block

of flats this morning. For anybody switching on this

morning, you are seeing a London tower block fire, Grenfell Tower, in

Latimer Road, in White City. This tower block caught fire in the early

hours of this morning. A 24 story building. These are the pictures

when the flame was in Full Tilt last night. We have been hearing

eyewitness accounts throughout the night from people in the area and in

the community. We should warn you, we will be hearing some distressing

accounts this morning. We just heard that children were screaming for

help. This is a tower block filled with families, a very densely

populated area in west London and people are still being rescued.

There are 200 firefighters at the scene and 40 fire engines. The

British ambulance service has just said it has already taken 30 people

to fight hospitals following this fire. So 30 patients already have

been taken to fight hospitals in the London area following this tower

block fire. We will keep you up-to-date throughout the morning.

It can show you the scene. Plumes of smoke coming from the building in

west London. The A40, the main road one -- running into West London,

been closed. This programme is a little bit

different this morning due to these events. We will take a break for a

short time to get Good morning. You are watching a

slightly different editions this morning. There's been a major fire

in a 24 story tower block in West London. Let's go live to the images.

This is a wide shot of West London. It is in the Latimer Road area of

west London. The block itself is called the Grenfell Tower. We know

the tower has around 120 apartments. The blaze itself broke out in the

early hours of this morning between 12 and one o'clock and very quickly

took hold. Let's show you some of the images that were taken during

the early hours of this morning. It will give you a sense of the scale

of the blaze itself. This is a major fire. The London mayor has declared

this a major incident. Streets all around have been sealed off and

residents have been evacuated. In terms of injuries, London Ambulance

Service says it is treating 30 people for injuries, not clear what

those injuries are, but clearly there are many concerns about those

residents in this apartment block. The fire breaking out in the early

hours of this morning. We've spoken to a number of eyewitnesses and some

of these reports we can't corroborate, but some people

suggesting the fire may have broken out on the fourth floor of the

apartment block, and in a very short space of time, the fire spread to

the entire Let's give you an idea of the scale

of the emergency services' reaction as well. More than 200 firefighters

at the scene, 40 engines, many dozens of ambulances as well, a

number of resources being sent to the scene. We can talk to Tim Downie

who lives very close to the area. We should say, it's very near to the

A40, the main road that runs to West London, which has been closed in

both directions, Metropolitan police have told us. Tim, you've been

observing what's been happening pretty much from two o'clock this

morning, shortly after it was first reported. Yes, from about two. We

were woken up by the sheer sound of fire engines and helicopters,

shouting and screaming from people in the street - what on earth is

going on? And to look out, pretty much where the tower is, the end of

our road, and to see one whole side just up in flames from what I could

see, from the ground to the very, very top - just a horrific sight,

and something you do not expect to see. Yeah, just the smell, the

smoke, and when the wind changed, the sounds of people just screaming

and shouting, just trying to get out. We are very mindful that people

are tuning in this morning into BBC News and hearing this for the first

time this morning. There are obviously some very devastating and

distressing scenes that you've witnessed, and bearing that in mind,

as you were saying, but what could you see in terms of how people were

being rescued or how they were able to be evacuated from the building?

There didn't seem to be any ladders on the outside. I don't know if that

had just to do with how hot it was, and it was incredibly hot. Even from

where we were, you could feel the heat. How the firefighters could go

into the building to bring them out in ... People, if they got out early

and quick, then from the very top floors, that was the best thing to

do, but if it was any later than that, then I dread to think how on

earth they would have got out. I know people did get out, but how

they even got in... It was raging, the fire was just raging around, so

how on earth they got anybody out is a miracle. Of course there is much

speculation at the moment, but we should indicate that there are some

speculations the emergency services were alerted to the fire very

quickly because there's a strong Muslim community, and it's of course

Ramadan, and fasting and breaking eating very late, so could notify

the emergency services. Tim, you lived not far from this tower block

at Latimer Road. Tell me what the community is like, the kind of

people living in this tower block. We understand many families live

there. Many families. Many families. We saw people holding children out

of windows to try and catch them below. The community itself - it's a

very densely populated area, and the community itself has really pulled

together. We were all out getting water for people that are coming

out. The local shop opened up and we just took all the water out of that

and we took that down to the court, people bringing coats and clothes,

people wearing just what they were standing up in. But it's what people

do. Something as horrendous as this, you help, and everyone has helped,

everyone has pulled together. Where have people been directed to? We've

heard from many people in fact, this sense of community in the area, but

where have people been directed to as a holding area while this is

sorted out? As far as I'm led to believe, there is a local church,

the Latimer church, which is on the other side from where I am, the

other side of the road, which a lot of people have been taken to.

Friends that work at St Mary and the local hospital, some people have

gone in with burns, but, because the roads are so narrow around here,

getting in and out has been incredibly difficult, and incredibly

difficult thing to do, so how they've got out I don't know, trying

to get them over to the main roads would be the only thing I could

think of. We are seeing pictures of the building now, and obviously a

lot of smoke coming out of the building. We are not seeing flames

at the moment. You are not far from there. Can you describe what you can

see and the current situation you think we are at at the moment? At

the moment, it's just billowing. The smoke is just... Just dreaming out.

It's all over the place. Very acrid -- just pluming out. From the

layman's points of view, it seems just a matter of time before it's

compromised and it collapses. We were thinking that that three or

four o'clock, when the smoke was coming out of it, and now it must

just be a matter of time. I don't see how a building can withstand

this much fire and devastation and remain standing. It's obviously a

very distressing thing to witness, Tim Downie. We really appreciate you

talking to us this morning and giving us your eyewitness account,

and just to keep people updated, this is Grenfell Tower in West

London, 24 story building which caught alight in the early hours of

this morning, and firefighters have been tackling a major blaze. It's

been described as a major incident by the London mayor, Sadiq Khan.

Let's bring you the official information at this stage. Not much

from the London services but right now London Ambulance Service says

five people have been taken to hospital following the fire. This is

in North Kensington, a very built-up area of West London. We understand

the first call to the emergency services was at 1:15am this morning,

and very quickly in a short space of time - maybe we can see some of the

nighttime images, eyewitnesses describing for us this morning a

very quick sequence in which the fire absolutely engulfed the

building, and early indications are, in terms of those people who lived

in the building, there are 125 flats in the building itself -

eyewitnesses say some people did manage to escape, particularly in

the early hours of the blaze, and indeed one eyewitness telling us

this morning as recently as 4:30am or 5am there were people still seem

in the building, but in terms of the official injuries, we know that 30

people have been taken to local hospitals by the London Ambulance

Service. Let's go to our reporter, Tim Moffat, at the Latymer community

Church, one of the places we understand people have been taken

to. What can you tell us from there? People, as you can imagine, are

gathering in a state of utter shock and despair, trying to take on board

what has happened. Judith is with me. You live very close to the

flats. Please describe what you saw. Sorry, I'm one of the local

councillors. I've come here because I know almost everybody that lives

in that block. That block has just had a massive refurbishment costing

millions of pounds. After the refurbishment was finished, the gas

board came along and said there is a bit of a problem with the gas and we

want to replace some of the pipes. The residents asked for a fire

inspection from the local fire brigade. This was carried out and

they were told that everything was fine. Describe the atmosphere this

morning while people try and take on board what happened. The atmosphere

is that this is a very those knit community, multi-ethnic,

multicultural, a lovely community. Everyone I've spoken to is

completely traumatised and in shock. Most of the people including myself

have friends who live in that building, relatives in that

building, people who go to their churches and mosques in that

building, and they don't know what's happened to them, and they are in

despair. Judith, thank you. We can see some of the other people who are

gathering. As we've been talking, people have been bringing bags of

clothes which they've grabbed as they've come out of the flats. The

smoke as you can see is still billowing from just above me. I

might be able to talk to this lady. Can you describe what you've seen?

Of course. I'm Sister Ruth, a Catholic nun. I'm 76. I've been in

nearly every country in the world working for charity. Now I live in

the old people 's home right opposite the building on fire. I was

shocked and appalled when I turned on the news to see the terrible

blaze. I couldn't believe it. Though I came out immediately to pray with

people and comfort them because some of the people here know people

inside the building. I don't personally but I've met people who

do, so I've been praying and comforting them. I've worked with

all the churches, the Methodist and ' church, the Salvation Army, and

I've come to the Latimer Christian Centre to give out tea and coffee to

the people who have been evacuated and to comfort people who know

people who are in the building who are missing, and could be dead or

injured, so it's shocking, but the rescue services are working very

hard. We have to pray very hard. It's shocking. Thank you for talking

to us. We hope as the morning comes along, we can send some good news

what's happened. A desperate situation at the moment. I will turn

around here and have a chat once more to Julius, the local councillor

we spoke to. -- Judith. Can you describe what you've heard about any

numbers of people that have come out? We haven't had any update at

all. It still seems to be quite vague. I sit on the fire authority

as well as being the MP here. I haven't been a councillor for very

long but I sit on the fire authority. That's all I can say. We

have a lot of concerns about moving older people out of tower blocks

when something happens. I've no idea what has happened but this has been

a concern for a long time. I've had three fires in tower blocks in my

ward. Including Trellick Tower. There's over 140 flats and it takes

an average of three or four people per flat. That's one hell of a lot

of people. Lovely people. I can't do multiplication... What can you

possibly do? People are very distressed. I've had calls from

people in other community centres who don't know what's going on. I

will go down and see if I can get any information but I'm waiting for

my call from the fire authority. We have the comfort people. This is a

lovely community, the whole community, not just the one tower

block, and everybody is traumatised about it. I have friends. I saw them

fortunately this morning, they'd escaped. They went round to their

mother's. Good to see them, but there are so many children. It's

going to be a major tragedy, I fear. Just looking around, you can see

people who are clearly absolutely devastated. Is there an advice for

people together in a certain place or something like that? The council

set up four respite centres and a church and local community centre,

and that's where people who are not in hospital have been gathering. The

details are being checked - did you live in the tower, do you know about

your neighbours? That sort of thing. Thank you. People clearly very

distressed. If we have any more updates, we will bring them to you.

Grenfell Tower in -- on Latimer Road. This is near the A40, the main

road into that side of west London. That has been closed in both

directions, we understand from the Metropolitan police. The scale of

the emergency services' response, more than 40 fire engines, 200 fire

officers were called to the estate in north Kensington this morning.

The London Fire Brigade has issued a statement and says it received

multiple calls. The fire was from the second floor to the top of the

building. Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus have been

working very hard. They say in very difficult conditions to tackle the

fire. They say they have deployed numerous resources and specialist

appliances. Times are coming through and being clarified. The fire began

just after midnight. The brigade was called about six minutes before 1am

and are still at the scene. Fire crews from north Kensington,

Hammersmith, Paddington and surrounding fire stations are in

attendance. We should be clear that the cause of the fire is not known

at this stage. We will be staying with this story throughout the

morning and we will be right up there in a few minutes to bring you

the latest information. Now the weather forecast.

We have got a hot day to come. Lots of sunshine around and it will feel

humid. We've had a bit of mist on us around this morning. This is the

view in Derbyshire, but that's clearing away. High pressure is the

driving force. It is sitting out in the near continent. Low pressure is

approaching from the Atlantic, introducing more cloud across

Scotland and Northern Ireland. Some outbreaks of rain on the far

north-west. For much of the UK it is hot, sunny and dry, with light

winds. In the afternoon there could be a couple of showers breaking out

across parts of northern England. And over the Pennines. If you catch

a shower it could be heavy and thundery, but they are pretty hit

and miss. In Leeds, about 24. That hot sunshine continues further

south. In London, 26- 28. Cooler if you are around the coast. Around 18

degrees in Plymouth. High UV levels today. Also high pollen levels.

Sunny and dry weather continues across Wales and across the Irish

Sea. More cloud, but are largely dry day. Possibly the odd spot of rain

creeping into the far north-west. Some rain for the Northern Isles and

Western Isles of Scotland. Further south and east across much of

Scotland we bill have dry weather, with sunshine breaking through. A

largely dry and hot day through the evening hours. Feeling warm and

mighty overnight, especially in central and eastern parts of the

country. From the west we will have fresher conditions working on. We

have this cold front during Thursday which will move its way in from the

west. It will introduce a fresher feel to the weather across Northern

Ireland, Scotland. Late on Thursday in the western parts of England and

Wales. More cloud creeping into the south-east and east Anglia on

Thursday afternoon. A fresher feel by the time we get to the middle of

tomorrow. Temperatures still up to about 60- 24 Celsius, so another

warm day -- 16. On the Friday and again it will be a little bit

cloudier in Scotland and Northern Ireland, with a chance of a couple

of showers. More breezy. Further south, another day of warm sunshine.

Into the weekend, temperatures creeping up. We could have 28

degrees by Sunday. You are watching a different edition

of BBC Breakfast this morning. There has been a major higher in west

London at a tower block, a 24 storey tower block, on Latimer Road. The

fire service got the first phone call at about six minutes before 1am

this morning and have since been dealing with this serious blaze in

west London. Still a lot of confusion in terms of

the casualties. This is the information we know. There were 140

flats in all in the building. We think up to 500 people living in

those flights. The blaze broke out in the early hours of the morning.

We know from the London Ambulance Service that 30 people have been

taken to five hospitals following the fire. Is the Grenfell Tower,

that's the name of the tower, in north Kensington. More than 200

firefighters sent to the scene. We've been hearing from eyewitnesses

this morning, who described how quickly the blaze engulfed the

building. I think we can show you some of the images from the early

hours of the morning, to give you a sense of the blaze when it was at

its height. The indications we are getting from some eyewitnesses is

that the fire initially started between the second or the fourth

floor. There have been reports of an explosion early on and then you can

see the scale of the blaze that overtook the entire building. We are

hearing from the London Ambulance Service, that a number of people

have been taken to local hospitals, also people gathering in a number of

community centres nearby and being helped by the emergency services and

by neighbours. The area immediately surrounding the building has been

evacuated amidst fears now that the building itself may collapse.

We are going to keep you up-to-date with the state of the building, what

emergency services are doing. At the moment they are still tackling the

blaze on the lower floors, with water cannon, going into the

building in an attempt to dampen down the flames and protect as much

of the building as they can. We are seeing images of a charred and

devastated building. Eyewitnesses saying that there is a big concern

now about the actual safety of the building and how long it will remain

in wrecked. People in surrounding areas have been evacuated from their

homes. -- remain erect. Their safety is of course extremely paramount. We

can speak to our correspondent Andy Moore. Tell us where you are and

what you are seeing. We are hearing many reports of people being

evacuated to several areas around the area? I am about 500 yards away

from the building, standing by the camera, I think you can see the

pictures at the moment, where there is a fire hose on the right-hand

side of the building, up towards the building. The fire is still burning

in places. It is a lot less fierce than when we first arrived for five

hours ago. The latest update we have from the emergency services is from

the ambulance service, saying they have taken 30 people to hospital.

Five different hospitals. A range of injuries. We don't know precisely

what sorts of injuries. We've had no update other than that from the

emergency services. What we are beginning to hear are disturbing

eyewitness reports of people at windows screaming for help, people

signalling with their mobile phones, people actually jumping from the

building. The BBC has heard from one eyewitness who was inside. He said

he didn't hear a fire alarm sounding as he came down the building and he

saw the fire service with their breathing apparatus actually coming

in as he went out. We did see in the early hours of the morning one

person at a window inside the tower block. You can see perhaps down on

the left-hand side there is one section of the tower block that

hasn't been burnt out. We saw somebody briefly at a window there

and they went back into the flat and then came back again. Didn't see

them after that, so we are hoping that the fire service were able to

get up the stairwell inside the building and rescue that particular

person. We can understand the extent of this fire. We are still seeing

flames, from the building as firefighters are tackling it and

from floors pretty high up as well. Have you been able to speak to

anyone who was around in the early hours of the morning when it first

began Betts you did mention that some people said they didn't hear a

fire alarm? I haven't spoken to that person myself. The BBC has done an

interview with that particular person. They were looking on the

seventh floor of the building and they say they work up because of the

smell of smoke. There in mind this was just before one a.m.. That

person didn't hear a fire alarm. Whether it was going off in another

part of the building we don't know. So I haven't spoken to people

directly in the building. People who live around have spoken to people

nearer the building and as I say I haven't heard these accounts myself.

These are second-hand and people are worried about people who were

apparently trapped inside the building. According to some

eyewitnesses people were actually jumping from the building. So we

know about 30 people have been taken to hospital, but there are grave

fears that there could be more casualties. To be clear, the reports

we are getting at the moment, all we can confirm is that 30 patients have

been taken to five hospitals and, as you implied, of course the concern

is now how many may have perished in the fire and the idea that there are

still people perhaps trapped in the building. We also understand that

people have been moved to areas around certain centres. Can you give

us a scale of how many people who were in the area are outside this

cordon and of course how this cordon is probably increasing in size as

there are concerns about the stability of the building? That's

right. There have been concerns about the stability of the building

since the early hours of the morning when we arrived. Police pushed back

the cordon with some urgency, shouting to people. They were afraid

that the building might collapse. Apart from that there was debris

falling from the building, which was a danger to people around. So the

cordon has been pushed back, we are something like 500 yards away from

the building. So I haven't seen with my own eyes people being taken to

this respite centres, so I can't speak to that. What I can speak to

is the pictures you can see at the moment of the fire still being

fought. There is actually a platform on the right-hand side of the

picture with a hose on the building. There is no firefighter that I can

see in that platform. It's actually just moving at the moment. It is one

of these automatic platforms that is controlled from the ground. Thank

you very much, Andy Moore. Our correspondent on the ground. We will

keep you up-to-date with what's happening. This is Grenfell Tower,

Latimer Road, in west London near Notting Hill, where a blaze broke

out early this morning. 40 fire engines and 200 firefighters have

been deployed to the scene. We understand 30 people so far have

been taken to hospital. We understand that from the London

Ambulance Service. We will keep you updated.

at the Grenfell tower block in West London

throughout the morning, here on BBC London News.

News, with Charlie Stayt and Naga Munchetty.

A major incident is declared as a huge fire engulfs

Firefighters are tackling the blaze at Grenfell Tower near Notting Hill,

local reports say that residents are trapped in the building.

are at the scene, along with 40 fire engines.

Let's go straight to that major fire in a 27-storey tower block

These are the shocking live pictures this

morning from the north Kensington area of London.

The London mayor Sadiq Khan has declared it a major emergency.

This is the Grenfell Tower, a 27-floor block of flats,

which if you know that part of London is close

More than 200 firefighters and some 40 five engines are at the scene.

Emergency services were called at 12:55am.

Dozens of ambulances have been called through the night,

and the London Ambulance service say they have taken 30 patients

That is the latest figure on casualties so far.

We don't have full details on casualties but hundreds of people

140 flats in all. There may be up to 500 people living in the building.

who is at the Latymer Community Church.

That's where people have been sent to who have been evacuated from

their homes. Good morning, Tim. People gathering here in a state of

utter shock, trying to come to terms with what has happened. Some

horrendous tales of events overnight. You were on the seventh

floor, what happened? It was around 1:30 a.m., I'm in bed with my

girlfriend, she is bus to sleep, along with her little girl, I'm

drifting in and out of consciousness and I smell plastic, I'm jumping up

because I'm worried about devices, everything is OK but I still smell

the smell. I went into the kitchen, open the window and lit a cigarette,

as I was doing that I heard shouting, I heard someone say it was

getting bigger so there's something seriously wrong I thought. I look

through the front door and eyes see the smoke and the neighbours are

running out and saying to get downstairs -- icy. I have gone

inside. I put my dressing gown on, grabbed the little girl, got my

girlfriend Ayn Rand down the stairs. Our advice was if there's a fire

stayed in your flat. If we had stayed in we would have perished. It

spread like wildfire, the block of flats is covered in cladding. The

smoke alarm was useless, people heard nothing. I could only hear it

in the hallway, not in the flat. Horrendous, people screaming out of

their windows and it went up like in seconds, going up and up, I've never

seen anything like it, something out of a Hollywood disaster movie! Do

you know other people who got out? I saw my neighbour who got out luckily

enough, I saw my neighbour on the 22nd floor, she got out. There were

kids screaming up at windows and smashing windows, explosions going

off, I'm shaken still, I can't believe it, I'm in shock, just

grateful I got us out of there. If we had stayed we would have

perished. Do you know how many people live in the block of flats?

There's 25 floors and six flats on each floor. Some are 1-bedroom, some

are two, three, four. There's a wide-ranging of rooms in the flats.

We hear there was some gas works taking place? A few weeks ago there

was a local resident under tenancies saying they would come round and

change everything to gas, I said it was all right, I'd use electricity

anyway, but I did see them working on the stairwell but not on our flat

but eyes saw it going on over the weeks. There were explosions going

off. There was blue flames, which dropped me. Gas! -- which struck me.

Could you help anyone else? I was concentrating on the little girl and

my girlfriend. I was in my boxer shorts, no shoes, nothing, there was

a lady with a bin bag, trousers and shoes in there because everyone is

running out in their bedclothes. It was just horrendous. I'm hoping to

God not too many people have perished. We have seen people

gathering this morning, clearly utterly traumatised, as you are of

course as well. What have other people said about their stories?

Everyone is in shock, there's tears, there's people searching for people,

pictures out, a lot of kids from the school nearby are missing. A lot of

young kids and old people living in the block. It went right up, there

weren't no stopping it. The speed has really... Yeah, it was like

pyrotechnic speed. I think it was all down to the cladding they have

put on the block with plastic that has gone all the way up in seconds.

And there's fire engines... There was about eight or nine fire engines

but only two were operating and people were saying get up there to

get to those people, screaming, someone jumped out from the fifth

floor and landed but she was OK. Absolute nightmare. Appreciate you

talking to us, thank you very much indeed, so glad you got out. One

harrowing tale of what happened to one person but sadly I fear there

will be many more stories like that as the day goes on.

That's obviously what we are all fearing this morning. Tim, thanks

very much. For those of you just tune in into BBC News, we are

bringing you reports of a tower block fire in West London which

began in the early hours of this morning.

We were hearing an eyewitness account from Nicky, who was in the

flat and managed to escape with his partner and his daughter. Describing

a harrowing tale of flames, the building engulfed by flames, we are

still seeing flames in the building, firefighters have been tackling this

blaze, more than 200 of them, 45 fire engines deployed, they are

still tackling the blaze with water cannon as you can see and helping

the evacuation procedure, getting as many people out of the flat as

possible. In terms of injuries, these are London from the London

ambulance service, 30 people had been taken to hospitals in London

who have been affected by the fire. As you look at the images, the image

on the right, both of these are live images now actually, this is West

London, a very built-up area of west London, Latimer Road. The building

is called the Grenfell Tower, a 27-storey tower in North Kensington,

an area familiar to many, the A40 running close by. Shepherds Bush not

far away, Notting Hill Gate and Portobello Road, this is the area. A

very built-up area. The streets surrounding the building have been

evacuated because there is a real risk the building itself could

collapse. You can see the image on the right, the smoke coming from the

building and if you look closely you can still see until recently flames

within the building itself. We understand from those who know the

building well there are around 140 flats in all in the apartment block.

They think maybe four or five people per flat, many families, we were

just hearing from Nicky a few moments ago, many young families and

many older people living in the building. Here in fact was on the

seventh floor and he was just recounting to us that he got early

indications of the smell of smoke and then managed to make his escape,

and taking with him and his young daughter. Managed to get to save

the. He said some people did but he has real concerns. We can't give you

any information at this stage about the number of people who have been

safely evacuated -- get to safety. They are being helped in a number of

centres in the nearby area and the only information the London Aplon

service has at the moment is 30 people have been taken to local

hospitals -- London ambulance service. At this stage we have no

information about the cause of the fire. London Fire Brigade has made

that very clear too. To recap, the A40, as John mentioned, the main

roads has been closed in both directions so say police. The cordon

has been widening around the Grenfell Tower this morning as there

are concerns about the stability of the building. Flames still being

tackled inside the building as you can see. We can talk to Andy Moore,

our correspondent at the scene. You are about 500 metres away from

the tower block, and the? That's right. You can see the bottom

of the building and a helicopter landing in the vicinity at the

moment -- Andy. You can see some flames coming out of the building

but most of the fire has burned itself out over the course of the

last six hours. When we arrived in the early hours, probably around

2am, you could see the fire from some distance. The tower block was

alight from top to bottom. According to the fire service, it is a

27-storey building, according to other reports it is 24 storeys but

as you can see it is a tall building with a lot of flats and we presume

hundreds of people were in there when the fire started, which was

about 12:55am. The BBC heard from some people saying they didn't hear

any fire alarms, they woke up to the sound of smoke. We've heard

disturbing reports about people banging on windows and screaming.

Some reports of people jumping out of windows. None of that has been

confirmed yet by the emergency services. But certainly very

worrying stories. What we know officially from the ambulance

service is 30 patients have been taken to hospitals, five different

hospitals, with a range of different injuries but we've got no details on

that at the moment. Andy, thanks very much, and we will keep you up

to the with our correspondents on the ground but as Andy said, and we

should warn viewers tuning in this morning, there are some distressing

accounts coming in from eyewitnesses and our correspondents regarding

this fire at the Grenfell Tower block. Our normal programme has been

changed because of this major incident in West London. This is a

27-storey building in West London in Latimer Road, the block itself is

called the Grenfell Tower and it was engulfed in flames in the early

hours of this morning. The live images you can see this morning, you

can see the smoke still billowing from the building. We're getting

updates from our correspondent is nearby, we can speak to Tim Muffet

at one of the centres people are being taken to. What stories are you

hearing -- correspondents. Some horrendous stories. Tamara and

Samira, you were close by, what did you see? Around 12:30 a.m., nearly

1am, my mom called me and said there was a fire outside and we went

outside but by the time I got there the whole right side of the building

was on fire, engulfed in flames, people were screaming help me, help

me, so me and my brother and others who live in the area ran over to the

estate, we could still get underneath it and people were

throwing their kids out to save their children. The ambulance and

the Fire Brigade and the police couldn't do anything, they couldn't

get in, they were saying to stay where they were, we will come and

get you. Things quickly escalated beyond measure and they couldn't go

back in and get them, it was too much to hold. Within another 15

minutes the whole thing was up in flames. And people were at their

windows saying help me, help me, you could see the fire going into the

house and the last room they were in. Engulfing their whole apartment.

Samira, what did you see? It escalated very quickly. Around

midnight, it was only around the third floor and before you knew it

the whole 23 floors of the building were all on fire. There was people

screaming for help and obviously throwing kids out. I think everyone

felt really helpless because obviously no one could get to them

and everyone was really scared and they didn't know what to do. It was

really sad to see. These are all people who we grew up with and

people who we see every day that are our neighbours and there were little

kids there, elderly people, disabled people, there were a lot of people

there, family members, thankfully family members did make it out but

there's still a lot of people that were there... Especially my brother

and loads of his school friends, they are still wondering if their

friends made it out, they haven't heard from them. One of the girls,

she lives on the top floor, which was according to the police and the

fire Brigade, if you live on the top floor that means you have more time

but they haven't made it. Talking about the speed at which the flames

took hold, did that strike you? That's the most shocking thing to

everyone, how quick it literally went from zero to 100. It was

literally just the fourth floor and it was bad but it was very minor.

That building's really big, it literally escalated so quickly and

that is what shocked people the most, how quickly it happened, the

whole building was literally gone before... It didn't hit 1am even and

the whole building was literally in flames. Did you see people getting

out? I saw people flying out of their balconies and their windows,

literally I saw a man who flew out of his window, I saw kids screaming

for help, people jumping out, so we saw a lot of people jumping out that

basically didn't make it obviously. It was from the eighth floor and up

so obviously that kind of fall you wouldn't really make it. I had a

family friend who was stuck until 5am in the house but luckily she

made it out and others from her floor and the floors below made it

out. There's people who were higher up that they couldn't get to. The

flames just got out of control so quickly. It was split decision, a

split second and then it was like the whole building was on fire. We

started on one floor and then we took one side and the whole building

and there's nothing you can do. You couldn't do anything but watch what

was unfolding. Will you aware of any concerns before about safety issues?

I didn't know anything. The building, they built a new school,

they knocked down the leisure centre and build a new one. So at the time

I didn't personally know about anything that happened. Literally it

was around just before 12 o'clock I was actually a wake and I went to

bed and not even 45... 30 minutes later I woke up to flames, so it

happened very quickly. Thank you so much for talking to us. We are very

glad you made it safely to where you are now. They give a talking to us.

Two very harrowing accounts from the Latimer Church, where people are

gathering. Thank you very much. We will keep

you up-to-date with what's going on. The pictures you are seeing off the

Grenfell Tower block in west London, Ian Notting Hill. Firefighters are

tackling a blaze at the block, which began in the early hours of the

morning. The first reports were shortly before 1am. This 27 storey

building housing up to we think around 500 people. Family, elderly,

who have been escaping throughout the evening. We understand from

London Ambulance Service that 30 people have been taken to hospitals

in London so far. More than 200 firefighters and 40 fire engines

have been deployed to the scene to tackle the blaze.

It is worth saying as we build you -- bring you this special programme

that we are hearing very harrowing accounts from eyewitnesses about the

sequence of in the early hours of the morning. There are no official

details as to how the fire started at the moment, but from the

eyewitnesses we are speaking to the picture seems to be emerging that

the fire seems to have begun on the lower floors, maybe the fourth

floor. This has been mentioned several times, that there may have

been some kind of explosion. But the early signs of the fire, it would

appear, started on the lower floors. But as you've been hearing from the

eyewitnesses and from a number of people we've spoken to this morning,

it very quickly engulfed. These are the pictures from the early hours of

the morning. Very quickly engulfing the whole building. We have heard of

people managing to escape. We heard from an eyewitness a short time ago

from one of those in the apartment block on the seventh floor. He was

able to escape, having smelt some of the smoke and fumes. He asked what

was going on and was able to escape. There are a number of stories of

people emerging from the building, but many concerns over the number of

casualties. Earlier we spoke to a man who lived

on the seventh floor and also managed to escape from the building.

I managed to get out of the building. Not by a fire alarm or

something, it was by people down below screaming to people, don't

jump from the building. Honestly, I don't know for certain if people

jumped off the building to get away from the fire. But the main thing

for me is the fact that the fire alarms didn't go off in the

building. From the seventh floor where I was, I didn't hear any fire

alarms whatsoever. I was obviously asleep, because I work early

mornings, so I am fast asleep and if it wasn't for them people screaming

I wouldn't have... I don't think I would have woken up and obviously...

God knows what would have happened if I didn't get out of the building.

That was Paul, giving us his eyewitness account. He lived on the

seventh floor and managed to leave the tower once he heard people

screaming for help. Live images you are looking at of

the green felt tower. -- Grenfell Tower. We have been speaking to many

witnesses. The fire started sometime between 12am and one a.m.. At about

1am this morning I heard what sounded like shooting sounds. Bangs.

I heard lots of police sirens. And then the number of police sirens and

the length of the sirens extended and increased, but I realised this

might be something serious. I looked out my window expecting to find

people with guns but actually that was now what we know as the

explosions which got louder. By a quarter past I have voted to look up

rather than down. The building was in three parts. One column on the

right hand side... By 1:30am I was down in front of the building. There

were neighbours and other people nearby who had gathered down there

and we watched the fire spread through the further columns and then

completely engulfed the building. Especially the top part of the

building. It burnt through. There were fumes and some of the flats are

still ablaze. People were waving mobile phones, we noticed. Men were

screaming extended calls for help. Little girls were screaming for

help. It was just awful. And that's actually one of the things. It's

very peculiar, but it was dead, the still of night, completely dark and

silent and then I heard the banging sounds and then I heard people

screaming for help as I was walking towards the building. I heard the

sound intensify. But even from a window, and I lived across the road,

I could hear people screaming for help in the dead of night. It was

horrific, really dramatic. That was an eyewitness accounts from Sophia,

who lives nearby to the tower block. We should warn you that there are

many distressing eyewitness accounts, you will understand, from

people who have escaped or were nearby the tower which went up in

flames in the early hours of the morning. 27 storey building which is

still being tackled by firefighters at the moment as they tried to bring

the blaze under control. We can now speak to a BBC London reporter,

Simon, who has been following the story. We understand there are

details coming through but we understand the first call was made

at about 12:55am this morning? That's right, 12:54am and we are

trying to ascertain from various eyewitnesses we have been covering,

since this first began, that it was about 12:50am. It has been

confirmed. The problem and the concerns that many people locally

have, not least the firefighters who are trying to deal with this, is

that we now have a blaze that been ongoing for almost six or seven

hours and the question is, how long can the integrity of our buildings

survive? Huge concern also about the numbers of people still trapped

inside. What do we know about how many people are trapped inside? Is

that still confident? It is unclear. What we know is that 30 patients

were taken to five hospitals. That's all I have. Even within that figure

I don't know whether that's people outside who were hit by masonry or

people who managed to get out of that building and then were taken to

hospital. We know people who managed to leave the building, because we

spoke to a number of eyewitnesses this morning we said exactly that.

They buy to let themselves or they've got relatives who managed to

get themselves. The remarkable story of one who was living very high up.

We heard from her nephew. It was his aunt he was worried about, she had a

heart condition. She was living towards the top of the tower, got

out relatively early and is obviously in severe shock but has

managed to get out alive. There are 120 flat, so there will be far more

people than 120 in that block and many still unaccounted for. We

understand the fire began about the fourth floor, but that's not yet

been confirmed. But this is a 24- 27 storey building? The reason there's

a slight discrepancy is if you go onto the architect's website, very

recently, as I am sure you have heard this morning, the building

itself was regenerated, refurbished, sometime ago. The architect's

website talks about the 24 storey building but there are some

additional parts to the building, which is why it has been referred to

as 27 floors. 120 flats, numerous people in there. As part of the

refurbishment the windows were changed, upgrades to the heating

system, cladding placed on the outside. We can't link that

refurbishment in any way to what has happened, but a question that many

eyewitnesses have been asking is in April there was a fire that took

place not very far away. It was caused by the disposal of a

cigarette and it caused significant damage to the flat in the Florette

was on IT didn't take all the same way that this fire has and as you

say 12:54am was the first call to the fire services. Information we

were getting, before 1:30 a.m., 1:45am, that building was already

massively alight. Simon, thank you very much. You are watching our

extended coverage this morning of what's been declared a major

incident by the London mayor. This is Grenfell Tower in Latimer Road,

in White City, west London. A 27 storey building. As you can see,

live images, a major fire overnight. In terms of the timeline, the blaze

started between 12am and 1am this morning. Some 500 people live in the

flat. 30 people so far have been taken for treatment. We will keep

you throughout the morning,

here on BBC London News. Hello, this is Breakfast with

Charlie Stayt and Naga Munchetty. A huge fire has raged

through the night at a west London tower block, with eyewitnesses

claiming people were trapped inside. More than 200 firefighters

are still tackling the blaze at Grenfell Tower in north

Kensington, where hundreds of people London Ambulance said 30 people

are receiving hospital treatment. We can speak now to Tim Muffett who

is at the Latymer Community Church. I'm at Latimer community Church,

close to the side of the blaze where people are gathering and talking to

each other, they are shocked and overstated. People, you live

opposite, what did you see? That's right, I woke up at about 1:30am to

look across the road and to see the big Grenfell Tower in a Taringa

Inferno, blaze, fire coming out of every window, windows smashing and

exploding -- towering Inferno. People jumping out on fire. Jumping

out of ropes they made out of bed sheets to climb out. Complete

nightmare. Absolute nightmare. Paul, the people you have been speaking

to, what else have they said? Everyone has been in such tears and

upset, people who haven't got out and they are upset about how it has

happened and how this catastrophe could happen in London after it has

just been refurbished. Were their concerns raised about the safety

aspect? Not that I know of -- were there. You'd think after millions of

pounds spent on the tower block, you would think it would be safe and you

would think this event, even if they fire did happen through electric or

gas, you would think that wouldn't happen after spending millions of

pounds on the refurbishments. As it is it did happen and the blaze has

been going on since 1am, which I think is a complete... Well,

terrible, pathetic and not up to what it should be. Paul, thanks very

much indeed, appreciate you telling us what you saw last night. People

are gathering, people bringing bags of clothes, they have had to get up

quickly, in a state of shock and complete devastation.

We should make very clear at this stage that the cause of the fire is

not known, so say the London Fire brigade. 200 firefighters, more than

40 engines are at the scene dealing with the blaze in West London and

the London ambulance service has informed us that so far 30 people

have been taken to hospital as a result of injuries from this fire.

We've had no other details on any other casualties or injuries.

In the last few minutes and emergency number has been set up for

anyone concerned for loved ones. The number we can bring you is:

You can see the number on your screen. That's the number for anyone

concerned about anyone caught up in the fires. We know that some 500

people live in the apartment block, Richard Lister can remind us of the

details of what's happened. The fire raged through the night.

This 27-storey block, home to hundreds of people, was engulfed in

flames. In the chaos it was unclear how many were able to get out. Some

were trapped inside for some time at least standing at windows in the

desperate hope of rescue. Uni during 999, there's a dedicated line for

this incident, OK? On the ground police cleared a wide cordon and

close to the nearby A40 in and out of London. Some 200 fire engines

were brought in to tackle the blaze. As the hours passed the concern was

the building might collapse and who might be trapped inside. Many people

were led to safety but some 30 were taken to hospital, others were

counting their blessings. David Benjamin was in the block when the

fire began. There was smoke everywhere, literally everywhere.

There was people downstairs, there was bits of the cladding falling off

the block, people screaming, after a couple of minutes because obviously

people were still sleeping on the high floors, they didn't have a clue

what was going on. I'm not even sure if half of them got out to be honest

with you. The block is now a smoking ruin, it's been declared a major

emergency. How it began and the full extent of the casualties are still

unclear. Richard Lister, BBC News. These are the live images, the

helicopter capturing some of the images. This is a built-up area of

west London, the Grenfell Tower, you can see in the image, the 840 West

way, the main route going into London is just behind the building.

Disney in Notting Hill Gate, Shepherds Bush not far away and you

can see how built-up the area is around and there's concern this

morning of course over casualties, and we are waiting for more

information on that, the real concern is over the stability of the

structure. Huge damage, only a small portion not affected by the fire.

You can see flames inside the building up until an hour ago. The

fire began around the fourth floor and rapidly escalated and you can

see firefighters tackling this building. We have heard some

harrowing eyewitness accounts this morning and you may find some of

these accounts distressing as we hear from people who managed to

escape from the building or who were watching people who are either

screaming for help from inside the building or who managed to escape.

Earlier we spoke to Mikey, he got out of the building with his partner

and daughter. It was about 1am, 1:30 a.m., I'm in

bed with my girlfriend, she is fast asleep, her little girl is next to

her fast asleep, drifting in and out of consciousness and I smell

something plastic because we have devices like Apple iPads and kindles

I thought I would jump up to see what it was. I jumped up to smoke a

cigarette and as I'm smoking the fact I could hear shouting and I

wondered what's going on and I heard a lady saying there's something

going wrong here, I look neighbours running out, gets downstairs, the

downstairs. I've gone inside, put my dressing gown on. Got my girlfriend

and ran down the stairs. Our advice was if there's a fire them stay in

the flat. If we had stayed in the flat we would have perished. It

spread like wildfire. The block of flats was covered in cladding. The

smoke alarm was useless. We heard nothing. I could only hear it in the

hallway, not in the flat. Horrendous. People were screaming in

the windows and the thing went up in what felt like seconds, it just went

up and up and up, never seen anything like it, it was like

something out of a Hollywood disaster movie. Have you seen anyone

you know get out? I just saw my neighbour get out. A woman on the

27th 22nd floor just got out -- 22nd floor. There were people smashing

windows and explosions going off. I'm shaking, I'm grateful we got

out, if we had listened and state we would have perished. Do you know how

many people live in the block of flats? There are 25 floors and six

or seven flats on each floor. Two, three, four bedroom places. A wide

range of rooms in the flats. We hear that there was some kind of gas

works taking place? About six weeks ago there was a local resident who

owned a tenancy and he said he was going to come Aaron and change

anything to gas, he refused to do it, he was going to ask to change

it, it's I said I use electricity. I did see over the weeks the work

going on with the gas and during the fire there were explosions going

off, windows flying out with blue flames, which struck me, gas. Were

you able to help other people get out? No, I was concentrating on my

girlfriend and the little girl. I was in my boxer shorts and there was

a lady outside with trousers, shoes for people to put on because

everyone is in their nighties and whatnot. It was just horrendous. I'm

hoping to God not too many people perished. You've seen people

gathering here this morning utterly traumatised, as you are, what are

other people saying? Everyone is shocked, tears, people are searching

with pictures now, a lot of people from the school that adjoining the

building are missing, a lot of young kids and old people are missing.

There was no stopping it. The speed struck you? It was like pyrotechnic

speed. I think it was all down to the cladding they put on the block.

It was like plastic, all went up in seconds and there were fire engines,

there were eight or nine fire engines but there were only two Mac

operating. We were saying, get there. Someone jumped out from the

fifth floor something, landed, she was OK, absolute nightmare.

That was the first hand account of Mikey, who as you heard was on the

seventh floor and managed to escape with his partner and his daughter.

He was making reference... These are the live images you're seeing, the

smoke still billowing from the building, you can get a scale of the

damage to the building. Mikey was talking about the damage from the

flames. You can get a real sense of just how desperate the situation

was. Many of the eyewitnesses we have spoken to this morning have

suggested, and we can't confirm this at this stage, that the fire may

have started on the fourth floor, certainly on the lower floors of the

building, but quickly, within a matter of minutes, completely

engulfed the entire apartment block. We understand there are around 140

flats in all and these are a mixture of families and older people as

well, there may be as many as 500 people in all, and at this stage the

London ambulance this is saying they are treating 30 people who are being

helped who were injured in the scene itself, many other people, as you

heard from Mickey, who did escape, had been taken to local centres

looking after those caught up in the problems. Let's look at what is

happening now on the Grenfell Tower. Firefighters still tackling the

blaze, there are parts of the building still alight, you may be

able to see you flames inside some parts of the building as

firefighters tackle it from all sides. More than 200 firefighters,

45 engines at the scene. The fire brigade is giving us updates as soon

as it can but obviously its main focus is tackling the blaze in this

building. We understand 30 flats in the surrounding area have been

evacuated. This is a very densely populated area of west London near

Notting Hill, near Portobello market. We understand that there is

of course understandably concerns about the stability of this building

in the wake of this blaze. Our correspondent Andy Moore was around

500 metres away and you had a view of the emergency services at the

scene and obviously people who have been forced to leave the area?

That's right. You can see yourself that there are still flames in some

parts of the building, the hoses are playing on the lower part of the

building. Just below me I can see four ambulances have arrived with

their blue lights flashing, a very large response by the emergency

services, we know this was declared a major incident. There were 40 fire

engines here, 200 firefighters. We know 20 ambulances were sent and 30

patients were taken to five different hospitals. But at the

moment you can see the firefighters trying to control the blaze on the

left. There is an automated platform. We don't believe there's

anybody on the top of that platform. It's controlled by an operator on

the ground. But that part of the building you can see on the left,

the undamaged section, that's where in the middle of the night we saw

someone briefly at a window before hopefully they were rescued inside

by the firefighters who went into the building with breathing

apparatus to try to... OK, our correspondent Andy Moore not far

from the scene, he will keep us updated. We are waiting for an

update from the emergency services. The fire brigade expected to give an

update on how exactly they are tackling the blaze.

Tim Muffett is that one of the rescue centres. You've been hearing

many stories from those caught up in the problems? Yes, harrowing stories

at Latymer Community Church come up with people are gathering, trying to

talk to friends and people who might have got out. You live nearby. What

did you see? I saw fire engulfing one side of the building. I saw

families with towels or blankets outside the windows and people with

smartphone devices, with their torch, trying to catch people's

attention. I saw a lot of police are not much fire brigade and I saw

helicopters circling. I saw one person from the fourth or fifth

floor with a young child. A lot of screaming. Have you been speaking to

other people here, obviously gathering in a state of shock, what

else have you heard? The main thing I have been hearing is that there

was a long delay between the time when people smelt something and saw

something, called emergency services and the emergency services arriving.

There was a very large gap. The speed at which the flames took hold,

a lot of people have commented on that. Is that something you've

heard? When we first came, as you said, the flames were on one side of

the building and ten minutes later more of it was up and within no time

most of the building was set ablaze. The juicy many people get out OK? I

saw some people getting out OK, I saw some people getting carried out,

some people getting supported out. It was a mixture. What about you?

Similar? Was it the speed at which the flames took hold which surprised

you? For me, I think the one image which sticks in my mind was seeing a

family waving what appeared to be a towel for around one hour or an hour

and a half and there was a helicopter and I'm not sure if it

was a media helicopter, I think it was, coming about 400 metres from

their window and then turning around. For me, the thing I took

from this was how agonising must that have been for that family, when

we watched them stopped moving from the street? You know? What can you

say? Indeed. It was utterly horrific. Thank you very much for

sharing those accounts with us this morning. People gathering here in

greater number. People walking along with bags of clothes they've clearly

grabbed at the last moment and people within this area trying to

come to terms with what has happened. I feel we are sadly going

to hear many more harrowing tales like the ones we have just heard.

Thanks very much. We should warn viewers who are tuning into our

special programme here on BBC News, we are bringing reports of a fire.

You can see the building. That is Grenfell Tower in west London. 27

storey building with about 140 flats. Up to 500 people lived in

that building. The fire broke out in the early hours of this morning

between midnight and 1am this morning and since then, since the

first report of the fire, firefighters have been tackling what

has been an horrendously amazing blaze that engulfed the building.

There are still flames in parts of the building some seven hours later.

Firefighters continue to tackle it to bring it under control. The court

and around it has been widened in this rather densely populated area

of west London, near Notting Hill, as there are fears that the

stability of the building are under threat.

These are the images coming from the helicopter, which is taking pictures

of the building. This is an area of west London, the old BBC building is

nearby. The Westfield shopping centre is nearby. As the camera

moves around you may be able to see the A40 which is close by. This is a

densely built-up area. The area immediately surrounding has been

evacuated. As you can see, Tim Muffett has been at one of the

centres where many people have been bought two. We are hearing some very

harrowing stories this morning. Worth a word of caution around some

of the stories are merging. We have heard from people who did escape

this morning. Some of those escaping from the seventh floor, you heard

from one man who escaped with his partner and young daughter. The

London Ambulance Service at this stage are saying they have treated

30 people, who have been taken to five hospitals nearby. We are

awaiting a police and press services conference shortly.

Tim Muffett spoke to another eyewitness who escaped from the

building with her friend. About 12 or 12:30am, 1am, my mother called me

and said there was a fire at night. Over time I got there the whole left

side... Right side of the building was on fire. You could hear people

screaming, help me! Me and my brother and some other people who

lived in the area ran over to the estate. We could still get

underneath it and people were throwing their kids out, save my

children! The fire brigade, the ambulance and police couldn't do

anything, they couldn't get in. They just stayed where they were. We will

come and get you. Things quickly escalated yonder measures and they

couldn't go back in and get them, it was too much. Within another 15

minutes the whole thing was up in flames and people were at the

windows, help me! You could see the fire going into the house and into

the last room that they were in and just engulfing their whole

apartment. What did you see? It escalated very quickly. Around

midnight it was only on the third floor and before you know it the

whole 23 floors of the building were all on fire and there were people

screaming for help, people obviously throwing kids out. Everyone felt

really helpless because no one could get to them and everyone was really

scared and they didn't know what to do. It was really sad to see. These

are all people who I grew up with. People you see every day, our

neighbours. There were little kids there, elderly people, disabled

people, a lot of people there... Family members who didn't make it

out. There were still a lot of people who were there. My brother,

loads of his school friends, they are still wondering if their friends

have made it out. Haven't heard anything. One of the girls actually

lives on the top floor, and if you were living on that floor people say

they haven't made it. People talk about the speed, is that what struck

you? It literally went from zero to 100 quickly. It was literally just

the fourth floor. It was bad but very minor. That building is really

big. It literally escalated. That was an eyewitness speaking to Tim

Muffett. Let's bring you up-to-date with the

latest information coming from the emergency services. A press

conference at the last few minutes. The London fire commissioner says

there have been some fatalities in the London fire. This is just

emerging in the last few minutes. A press conference from the emergency

services saying there have been some fatalities in the London fire. Also

saying that the cause of the fire is not yet known.

These are comments from the London fire commissioner who has

declared... Says this has been declared a major incident. He said

the first fire engines were there in under six minutes of it being

reported. And at the time he was speaking at the conference, he said

it was sad to confirm that there have been a number of fatalities,

although the number can't be confirmed due to the complexity of

the building and of course they are working very closely with police to

bring the situation under control. It is being described as an

unprecedented incident. He said in his 21 years as a firefighter he has

never seen anything on this scale. Tim Muffett is nearby. Yes, I am

joined by the leader of Kensington and Chelsea council. Tell us what

you saw, what you heard from the people you've been speaking to? I

first received a call just after 3am this morning. I came here as soon as

I could. I tried to ensure that the emergency planning team were able to

provide support to people who had been immediately affected and

evacuated from the tower. I'm pleased to say they have been able

to do that and we are at all of the centres now and there are other

emergency centres nearby. The Fire Brigade are clearly in attendance on

a massive scale and have been for several hours and it looks like,

sadly, they will be here a lot longer. When we have more

information clearly we will share it and I am sure the Fire Brigade will

as well. What do you know about this block of flats? You know how many

people live your? There are about 130 flights. What we don't yet know

is who was in those flats. Clearly a fire in the middle of the night

suggests more people are at home than other parts of the day and it

may take them longer to evacuate, but we don't know precisely how many

people were in their or how many people may have been absent. That

will need to be established. The emergency services, who are doing a

wonderful job, will be helping people who might have been trapped.

Were you aware of any concerns raised about these flats before?

There are always concerns about high-rise buildings and what the

fire procedures are and what the fire regulations require. There are

fire regulations. Blocks are regularly inspected. The

organisation which runs the council housing stock will commission

regular inspections and clearly there will need to be a thorough

investigation into what has been investigated here and what the cause

of the fire was and why it appeared to have spread so rapidly. You

mentioned the speed at which the fire spread. It has taken so many

people by surprise. 70 people are astonished by the speed. Is that

what you've heard? -- so many people. Yes, and when you come into

the area you can see how extensive the blaze is and how it appears to

have spread across the block. There will need to be a thorough

investigation as to why a fire that started rigidly in one flats spread

so quickly. Thanks very much indeed. One update for you there. More

people gathering and we will get further updates to you as soon as we

have it. We can bring you up-to-date with

what's been happening. These are pictures of Grenfell Tower in west

London, which went up in flames early in the morning between 12

o'clock and midnight. A statement from the London Fire Brigade has

come out. The commissioner said that in her 29 years as a firefighter she

has never seen anything on this scale. It is an unprecedented

incident. 200 offer are attending this incident and she has also

confirmed that there have been a number of fatalities, although they

can't confirm the number at this time due to the complexity of the

building. An emergency number has been set up

for anybody concerned about loved ones. The number of -- will be

brought to you throughout the programme. Time

Hello, this is Breakfast from BBC News with Charlie Stayt

A major incident is declared as a huge fire engulfs a tower

It broke out just before 1am in the morning.

More than 200 firefighters are at the scene, along

Let's bring you up-to-date with the latest on that devastating

fire which has engulfed a 27 storey tower block in West London.

This is the Grenfell Tower. You can see firefighters are still tackling

this blaze and have been doing so since being first informed of it at

just a few minutes to 1am this morning. And we understand from the

London Fire Brigade that they responded to the incident within

minutes. Yes, in the last half an hour, London's fire commissioner

declared a major incident and confirmed there have been a number

of casualties, but could not confirm how many. There have been a number

of fatalities according to Danny Cotton, the fire commissioner. There

have been a number of fatalities, but she went on to say the cause of

the fire is not yet known at this stage. She called the blaze

unprecedented. She said she had never seen anything on that scale.

Richard Lister can remind us of the details of what's happened.

This 27 storey block, home to hundreds of people,

In the chaos, it was unclear how many were able to get out.

Some were trapped inside for sometime at least,

standing at windows in the desperate hope of rescue.

You need to ring 999 and there is a dedicated

On the ground, police cleared a wide cordon and closed the nearby A40

Some 200 fire engines were brought in to tackle the blaze.

As the hours passed, the concern was whether the building

might collapse and who might still be trapped inside.

Many people were led to safety, but some 30 were taken to hospital.