Over 50 hospitalised as 24-storey building in London goes up in flames

The 24-storey Grenfell Tower on the Lancaster West estate in north Kensington continues to burn after the fire brigade was alerted shortly before 1 am Wednesday.

The London Ambulance Service has confirmed that 50 have been injured.

200 fire fighters and forty fire engines were reportedly sent to tackle the blaze through the early morning.

Many witnesses said they saw a number people trapped inside their homes, however, emergency services said that 30 patients were taken to five hospitals.

About 30 flats in the surrounding area have been evacuated and emergency rest centres have been set up for those told to leave their homes.

The borough of Kensington and Chelsea said the cause of the fire will be investigated, but for now the focus is on supporting emergency services in their rescue and relief operation.

The fire commissioner, Dany Cotton said, “This is an unprecedented incident. In my 29 years of being a firefighter I have never ever seen anything of this scale. Firefighters are working very hard at the moment.

“This is a major fire that affected all floors of this 24-storey building from the second floor upwards. I have over 200 of my firefighters and officers attending this incident, with 40 fire engines and a range of specialist vehicles, including 14 fire rescue units. We declared this a major incident very early this morning … the first call coming in at 12.54. Our first fire engines were on the scene in under six minutes.

“Crews wearing breathing apparatus and extended duration breathing apparatus have been working in extremely challenging and very difficult conditions to rescue people and bring this major fire under control.

“London ambulance service have confirmed that 30 people have been taken to five hospitals.

“I am very sad to confirm that there have been a number of fatalities. I cannot confirm the number at this time due to the size and complexity of this building. It would clearly be wrong for me to speculate further.

“Equally, the cause of this fire is not known at this stage.

“We are working very closely with our colleagues in the Metropolitan police and the London ambulance service to bring this situation under control.

“Further information will be made available shortly including advice for those concerned about those who are working here and people who live here.”

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