WITNESSES have spoken of the harrowing scenes during the major fire that ripped through a London tower block in the early hours of this morning.
London Fire Brigade were alerted to the fire at the 24-storey Grenfell Tower near Notting Hill, west London shortly before 1am.
While 74 people were taken to hospital, six people have been confirmed dead and Metropolitan Police have said they expect the number of fatalities to rise.
Smoke billows from Grenfell Tower as firefighters attempt to control a blaze at a residential block of flats on June 14, 2017 in west London. (Picture: ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Getty Images)Firefighters and officers remain at the scene, along with 40 fire engines and a range of other specialist vehicles, including 14 fire rescue units in attendance.
It is not yet known the exact cause of the fire.
Fire fighters tackle the building after a huge fire engulfed the 24-storey Grenfell Tower in Latimer Road, west London in the early hours of this morning on June 14, 2017. (Picture: Leon Neal/Getty Images)In a series of harrowing witness accounts, one woman told the Huffington Post of a baby that was thrown from a window.
"There were screeches and somebody was gesturing that there was a lady at the window and as I looked up a lady was frantically gesturing and screaming, with her hands, from her body language, that she was about to throw the baby.
Local residents walk by emergency response vehicles as Grenfell Tower is engulfed by fire on June 14, 2017 in west London.(Picture: DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP/Getty Images)
"She wrapped her baby in what seemed like a sheet or blanket and threw the young baby out of the window.
“A member of the public, a guy, ran forward and just miraculously grabbed the baby at the right moment and then the shadow, I assume of the mother, went backwards and that was the last we saw.
“I’m not sure what the guy did with the baby but the baby was picked up safely.”
A woman saved her baby by throwing him through the window #GrenfellTowerFire @HuffPostUK pic.twitter.com/Sl7M44BUVc
— Paco Anselmi (@pacoanselmi) June 14, 2017
One resident, Tamara, told BBC News that her mother called to tell her there was a fire at the tower block around 1am.
"By the time I got there the whole right side of the building was on fire, the whole thing was engulfed in flames.
"We could hear people screaming 'Help me' so me and my brother, with some other people who live in the area, ran over to the estate to where you could still get underneath it and there were people just throwing their kids out saying 'Save my children'.
"The fire crew, ambulance and police couldn't do anything, they couldn't get in, and they were just telling them to stay where they are, and we'll come and get you. But things quickly escalated beyond measure and they couldn't go back in and get them.
"Within another 15 minutes the whole thing was up in flames and there were still people at their windows shouting 'Help me'. You could see the fire going into their houses and engulfing the last room that they were in."
A resident stands in an ambulance by Grenfell Tower after it was engulfed by fire on June 14, 2017 in west London.(Picture: DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP/Getty Images)
Another witness, Samira, told BBC News: "It escalated really quickly. Around midnight the fire was only around the third floor and then, before you know it, the whole 23 floors of the building were all on fire and there were people screaming for help and throwing kids out.
"I think everyone felt really helpless because no-one could get to them," she said. "There was a lot of people there – children, elderly people and disabled people; my family members, who thankfully made it out. But there are still a lot of people who are unaccounted for."
Members of the emergency services work at the scene of a huge fire in Grenfell Tower on June 14, 2017 in west London.(Picture: DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP/Getty Images)
She added: "I think the speed of the fire was the most shocking thing for everyone, how quick it literally went from zero to 100. Like it was literally just the fourth floor and that was bad but it was really minor, and that building is really big and the whole building was gone – even before it hit 1am the whole building was in flames.
"I saw people flying out of their balconies and windows. I saw a man who flew out of his window, I saw people screaming for help. We saw a lot of people jumping out that basically didn't make it."
Another witness, Jody Martin, said he got to the scene just as the first fire engine was arriving.
Two men hug within the security cordon as Grenfell Tower is engulfed by fire on June 14, 2017 in west London.(Picture: DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP/Getty Images)
"I watched one person falling out, I watched another woman holding her baby out the window… hearing screams," he said.
"I was yelling everyone to get down and they were saying 'We can't leave our apartments, the smoke is too bad on the corridors'."
"I was screaming at people in the building that were looking out of the windows, trying to wake people up, telling them, 'Get out of the building.'
"And they were screaming back at me, 'We can't! The corridors are full of smoke.'"
Fire fighters and emergency services gather at the building after a huge fire engulfed the 24-storey residential Grenfell Tower block in Latimer Road, West London in the early hours of this morning. (Picture: Leon Neal/Getty Images)Mahal Egal told the Victoria Derbyshire programme that he escaped from his flat on the fourth floor with his family, including two small children.
"The fire started on the fourth floor, my neighbour told me it was his fridge that exploded.
"We were one of the first 10 families who got out no later then 1.10am and at this point the fire was no higher than an average tree.
"At first it seemed it was controllable, but really quickly the fire started to rise as the cladding caught fire.
"Initially we thought it would be fine and the firefighters would be able to put the fire out. But there was a sense of hesitation from the firefighters; they didn't start putting out the fire with water until 3am."
