…As many as 40 fire engines at the scene where residents are being evacuated out of the 27-floor building
A massive fire has broken out in a 27-floor block of flats in west London where residents were being evacuated and people treated for injuries, police and fire services said.
The London Fire Brigade said 40 fire engines and 200 firefighters were battling the blaze which had engulfed all floors from the second to the top of the Grenfell Tower on the Lancaster West Estate in west London in the early hours of Wednesday.
“A number of people being treated for a range of injuries,” police said. “Residents continue to be evacuated from the tower block fire.”
The cause of the fire is not known at this stage, the Fire Brigade said.
Police said in a statement they were called at 1:16am (0016 GMT) “to reports of a large fire at a block of flats in the Lancaster West Estate”.
They said an evacuation of the block was “underway” and at least two people were being treated at the scene for smoke inhalation.
“The entire building is on fire, the flames are going from the ground to the roof,” Jeff Howard, a witness, told Al Jazeera.
“The flames are now making their way around the building, almost to the point where they are coming together. I heard helicopters over my building around 1:45am and there was a bit of screaming outside.”
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said a “major incident” had been declared.
More to follow…
