It is hard to overstate the scale and intensity of the fire that engulfed Grenfell Tower, a 24-storey west London block of flats, shortly before 1 a.m. this morning. Pictures and video from the scene look like something out of a disaster movie. ‘Inferno’ is the Evening Standard‘s headline.
At this early stage, six people have been confirmed dead – but the Metropolitan Police have said that ‘we do expect that figure to rise’. At least seventy-four more are injured and have been taken to six London hospitals, with 20 ‘in critical care’. More than 100 families have been made homeless.
The emergency services responded quickly and in large numbers last night – arriving on the scene within six minutes of the first 999 call, the Guardian reports. According to a statement from the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, there were still 250 firefighters on the scene this morning, plus 100 medics and 100 police officers.
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