Death toll in London Grenfell Tower inferno now 17

THE death toll has risen to 17 as London’s fire chief says fireys who went into the burning tower “saw and heard things” they’d never experienced before.

THE death toll in the Grenfell Tower inferno has increased to 17 — and the number of victims is expected to continue to rise.

Five more deaths were confirmed tonight, bringing the official toll to 17. But there are fears dozens more people perished when the fire ravaged the west London apartment block during the middle of the night.

A local councillor told Sky News that emergency services were expecting the number of dead to be more than 100.

The grim news comes as London’s fire chief reveals her concern about the mental and physical health of many of the firefighters who worked for hours to bring the blaze under control.

Commissioner Dany Cotton told media in London tonight (Australian time) the 250 officers “saw and heard things on a scale they’d never seen before” as they worked through the night to rescue people from as high as the 24th floor.

“I spoke to some of them yesterday who were truly distressed, not least of all because they knew there were people still in there.”

“They were battling through the heat and couldn’t get there.”

“What went on yesterday truly traumatised a lot of people...it will affect a lot of people going forward.

Dogs will be sent in to search the building as firefighters work to structurally support it. Picture: AFP PHOTO / Daniel LEAL-OLIVAS

Commissioner Cotton said authorities “have absolutely no idea” how many people were unaccounted for.

She praised the bravery of firefighters who ran into the flames, reaching the 24th floor of the building to rescue people from inside but said it would be an “absolute miracle” if there were any further survivors.

“They were in fear of their own lives. They were in and out of that building committing time after time to rescue the people that were in there.

“They were never going to stop until they physically couldn’t get in there any more.”

“They are heroes but they have feelings and people were absolutely devastated by yesterday’s events”

The brigade has also warned the edges of the building are not safe and it’s understood officers will conduct a “fingertip” search of the block that is expected to take weeks.

UK Prime Minister Theresa May has visited the scene, while other local councils around London have committed to a review of building fire safety.

Ms Cotton said it will be a miracle if any survivors are found following the devastating high-rise fire. Authorities have said many more victims are expected.

Ms Cotton told Sky News that authorities don’t expect to find anyone else alive after the blaze and that it’s too early to speculate on how it started — or even how many people died. She said that authorities have finally extinguished the last pockets of flame, and are trying to secure edges of the building for a fingertip search.

BREAKING: London fire commissioner says authorities 'genuinely don't know' how many victims died in building blaze.

— The Associated Press (@AP) June 15, 2017

Dany Cotton @LondonFire GET this woman an OBE, MBE Whatever it takes. She & all her firefighters -> AMAZING 👏🏽😘❤️#saveourfire #GrenfellTower pic.twitter.com/44xQXOCTOa

— Yasmin A. Choudhury (@yasminisyasmin) June 15, 2017

Meanwhile, construction plans show the perilous maze residents had to navigate to make their way to the building’s single fire escape.

Renovations of the Grenfell building in North Kensington saw the building not only kitted out in controversial cladding that could have caused the deadly blaze to spread so quickly, but also stripped of two of its fire exits.

Planning documents submitted to council between 2012 and 2014 show a collection of compact living spaces packed in tightly together on each floor. According to floor plans 120 apartments were jammed into the building’s 24 storeys, all around a central elevator and fire escape.

Leading London fire and building inspector Geoff Wilkinson said that while having only one fire escape may have made the escape more difficult for some residents, it still should have been adequate.

“We can tell that reports (concerning fire safety) were made and the fire service had made inspections relatively recently,” he told ABC radio.

“The question of having a single fire exit is not uncommon. It’s certainly proved to be (adequate) in the past.”

A major refurbishment of the Grenfell Tower, originally built in 1974, was completed in May 2016 at a cost of $14.6 million.

Planning documents for Grenfell Tower show how tightly apartments were packed in. Picture: Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea/Supplied

Questions are being raised about what caused a London apartment block to turn into a blazing deathtrap, as witnesses reveal residents were advised to “stay put”.

At least 12 people died on Wednesday when the building became engulfed in flames in a fire described by London’s Fire Commissioner as “completely unprecedented”.

Grenfell Tower underwent a major refurbishment last year. Picture: Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea/Supplied

The building contained 120 compact apartments. Picture: Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea/Supplied

Witnesses reported seeing a baby thrown out a window to safety to avoid the horror inside. As many gathered outside evacuation centres to await news of loved ones, they reported people following official advice to stay inside, unaware of the true extent of the danger unfolding.

One resident who said he and his neighbours had complained about the building’s safety for years said he considered the disaster “mass murder” as experts focused on the building’s external cladding, fitted only a year ago, that could have turned the tower into a death trap.

Local media is reporting “nobody on the top three floors survived”, crediting the claim to a local community leader.

FEARS FOR MISSING FAMILY

Authorities and family members are desperately searching hospitals and the surrounding areas for missing relatives as the death toll is expected to rise.

One family has had no news of their three young girls who were believed to be trapped in the building. Relatives said three sisters, Mirna, Fatima and Zainnb, along with two other family members had been in the building and had not been heard from.

According to the BBC — three sisters Mirna, Fatima and Zainnb are among the missing in Grenfell Tower in the London fire. Picture: Supplied

Ahmed Chellah told news.com.au his brother-in-law and his wife were inside with their three children when the fire broke out.

“The last time I spoke with them was at 1.45. She seemed calm,” he said of his relative.

“Her husband was talking with emergency services. She told me they asked her to put towels around the doors. She sounded calm.”

However, he spoke to her again at 2.15am and she said “smoke was coming into the flat”.

“That was the last time I heard from her,” he said. “Whether the emergency services got to them and have taken them to hospital, I don’t know.”

Grenfell Tower advised residents to stay inside their homes in the case of a fire. Picture: Residents Action Group

MAN ARRESTED OVER TOWER ‘BODY PICTURES’

A man has been arrested over allegations he posted pictures of a Grenfell Tower victim on social media.

Images were posted of what appear to be a partially covered body following the fatal blaze in north Kensington, west London.

The Metropolitan Police said a 43-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of sending malicious communications and obstructing a coroner.

Officers confirmed the arrest related to the fire at Grenfell Tower and the man was in custody.

Man arrested for taking pictures of bodies at Grenfell Tower after fire in London. Picture: UKNIP

MUSLIM RESIDENTS MAY HAVE SAVED LIVES

Muslim residents of Grenfell tower who had stayed up because of Ramadan are being hailed as heroes and credited with saving lives.

A number of witnesses have praised those who were awake ahead of the pre-dawn meal Suhur, which is taken nightly during the month of Ramadan, and alerted others to the spreading blaze.

Khalid Suleman Ahmed, who had recently moved to the building, told Huffpost he was only awake in the middle of the night because of Suhur, and began alerting neighbours when he could smell smoke.

“No fire alarms went off and there were no warning. I was playing PlayStation waiting to eat Suhur then smelt smoke. I got up and looked out of my window and saw the seventh floor smoking,” he said. “I woke my aunty up, then got clothes on and started knocking on neighbours’ doors.”

Mr Ahmed said he wouldn’t usually be up so late on a weeknight, unless it was Ramadan.

“There are a lot of Muslims living there and people choose to stay up and wait so it was certainly a factor for me and others. It probably did save lives.”

A witness told Sky News that Muslims who were awake had been a “lifeline”. Another witness said: “Thank God for Ramadan.”

Witnesses have shared more incredible rescue stories, including a man who was seen desperately waving a jumper from his window signalling to authorities he was still in the tower 12 hours after it went up in flames.

Witnesses shared their shock after seeing a man scramble to catch a baby that had been dropped from a window on the ninth or 10th floor.

Flames were seen engulfing Grenfell Tower. Picture: Jeremy Selwyn / Evening Standard / eyevine / australscope

London mayor Sadiq Khan said firefighters were only able to reach the 12th floor. Picture: Carl Court/Getty Images

‘I CONSIDER THIS MASS MURDER’

Another witness Mohammad Jamal, 27, told news.com.au he was yelling at people to leave the building, which people on the street could see was becoming engulfed in flames.

He said many of those inside shouted back “We’ve been told to stay”, following official management advice that says people should “stay put” unless the fire is affecting their own property.

“They couldn’t see it spreading,” he said.

Former resident David Collins said he had lived in the block for two and a half years and had never experienced an evacuation drill during that time. He also said emergency lighting in stairwells was not working properly.

Another resident Edward Daffarn, who lived on the 16th floor said residents had complained for years to responsible councils about the building’s safety.

“I’m lucky to be alive. A neighbour’s smoke alarm went off and another neighbour phoned and told me to get out,” he said. “I consider this mass murder.

“This is an accident that never needed to happen.”

Other witnesses reported not hearing smoke alarms in the building until they were manually started by fire services. Lack of access to the building due to narrow roads and gas works in the area were also cited by locals as complicating firefighting efforts.

London mayor Sadiq Khan said firefighters were only able to reach the 12th floor and pledged to get to the bottom of whether the response was adequate and residents were at risk.

“The reason why it should be such a big concern for all of us is that there are many tower blocks across London and across the country,” he said.

“Many of them are the responsibility of local authorities. We need to make sure that legitimate questions people have are answered.”

Locals said people were told to stay inside during the fire, which may have contributed to the number of casualties. Picture: Frank Augstein

RESIDENTS WARNED IT WAS ‘A MATTER OF TIME’

It comes as the Grenfell Action Group warned that a “catastrophe like this was inevitable” and blasted the building management for failing to provide adequate fire training and advice.

Shortly after news of Wednesday's tragedy broke, it claimed: “Regular readers of this blog will know that we have posted numerous warnings in recent years about the very poor fire safety standards at Grenfell Tower.

“ALL OUR WARNINGS FELL ON DEAF EARS and we predicted that a catastrophe like this was inevitable and just a matter of time.”

It comes after a statement in March detailing the “criminally lax” manner fire safety was treated.

“We are on record as stating that it is our belief that a serious and catastrophic incident will be the undoing of this mini mafia who pose as a bona fide organisation responsible for the smooth running of the RBKC’s (Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea) social housing.”

Refurbishments that took place only a year ago meant that residents of the 24-storey building had gone from having access to three fire escapes to just one.

Grenfell Tower floor plan. #londonfire pic.twitter.com/njQIEaQLtL

— Justin Hemming (@JustinHemming) June 14, 2017

The building advised people to ‘stay put’ during a fire. Picture: AFP/ Adrian Dennis

Rydon construction, which recently refurbished the block in an $11 million job to modernise the exterior, said new cladding and windows “met all required building control, fire regulation, and health and safety standards.”

The company said it would not be commenting further “given the ongoing nature of the incident and the tragic events overnight”.

Pete Griffiths, a spokesman for the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation, told the Associated Press: “I can’t comment. We’re getting hundreds of requests for comments.” The group issued a statement saying it was focused on helping residents.

Dramatic pictures: Inferno at Grenfell Tower

VIEW GALLERY

QUESTIONS NEED TO BE ANSWERED

Building and safety experts are convinced something went “seriously wrong” for the building to become so quickly engulfed in flames.

One of London’s most senior fire and building inspectors Geoff Wilkinson told BBC radio the fire was the worst tragedy he and his colleagues had seen.

“I’ve been involved myself for over 30 years in building control and fire safety and I’ve never seen a building go up in this way,” he said.

Mr Wilkinson said there were questions to be addressed around the building’s recent refurbishment and subsequent fire and safety checks.

“The building in question dates back to the 1970s and would’ve been constructed as solid

concrete construction,” he said.

“The immediate areas that people are starting to look at are the refurbishment works. This

building has stood for several years, I’m sure there have been other minor fires in the

building and none have spread in this way, so something seriously has gone wrong here.”

The cladding that surrounded the building has been called into question. Mr Wilkinson said since 1992, when cheap aluminium cladding began to be used.

Young children wear masks to protect themselves from clouds of ash and soot that fell on Wednesday. Picture: Carl Court/Getty Images

Since then building fires had been seen to spread more quickly with fire spreading into gaps between the external cladding panel and the original face of buildings, creating a chimney, but he said that in itself should not have caused this fire to spread the way it did.

“Unfortunately until we actually know where the fire started and the cause it is very early to

speculate. Certainly questions are being raised about the cladding, the building themselves

are designed predominantly to have passive fire protection,” Mr Wilkinson said.

“If that had worked correctly then this would not have happened. We have to ask question over whether that was adequately in place.”

A Melbourne skyscraper fire that spread quickly and destroyed the building was attributed to the same type of cheap aluminium cladding that experts fear caused the Grenfell fire to spread.

Independent Senator Nick Xenophon has called for an urgent audit of buildings in across Australia for dangerous materials, particularly cheap aluminium cladding.

“Anyone who lives or works in a high-rise building with some of this cladding there needs to be immediately reassurance that the material is either compliant or fire-retardant, and if it’s not compliant we need to do something about it very quickly,” he said.

The building industry has also urged the government to act on building products.

Insulation Australia chairman Scott Gibson fears there is a proliferation of building products used in Australia that don’t comply or conform with building standards and he fears may have been used during the recent apartment building boom in Sydney and Melbourne.

His organisation wants governments to make it compulsory for all building products to undergo strict tests by an independent body to ensure they don’t pose fire or other safety risks.

- Additional reporting by wires