london ambulance service has treated a64 london ambulance service has treated a 64 patients and taken to six hospitals across london including major trauma centres at king's couege major trauma centres at king's college and st mary ‘s and paddington. i can also confirm that a further ten patients have presented themselves to hospitals across london. our thoughts are clearly with everyone who has been affected by this tragic set of circumstances. we continue to have large members of staff including paramedics and advanced paramedics and specialist trauma teams from the london ambulance along with hazardous area response teams that are specially trained and carried specialist equipment such as the use of breathing apparatus to support oui’ of breathing apparatus to support our colleagues in london fire brigade and the ongoing management of the situation. as my colleague the commissionerfor the of the situation. as my colleague the commissioner for the london of the situation. as my colleague the commissionerfor the london fire brigade said this is an unprecedented incident and as an off a lot of resources required to manage it ongoing status. from an ambulance service perspective i would ask that only collars if you have a genuine emergency. there are other areas of the health service such as the nhs iii other areas of the health service such as the nhs 111 service and pharmacy and gps can give you advice. i would suggest you do that we support our colleagues in london fire brigade and the metropolitan police service in the management of this incident. when he got here and the early hours of the morning could you imagine what would happen? when i arrived on scene the fire had spread rapidly and is progressing through the building so why first arrived on scene there was a significant fire in progress and our ci’ews significant fire in progress and our crews were working tirelessly to make our way into the building and rescue people who were trapped. we took a rescue people who were trapped. we tooka numberof rescue people who were trapped. we took a number of fire survivor guide as goals and were able to get our ci’ews as goals and were able to get our crews to go to those flats and assist people to come out. i have never seen a assist people to come out. i have never seen a fire of this nature and my 29 history and it is completely unprecedented and will require some further investigation. unfortunately a numberof further investigation. unfortunately a number of firefighters have been injured but only with minor injuries which considering the scale and the numberof which considering the scale and the number of firefighters involved and how hard they have what is a testament to their professionalism and dedication. they are minor injuries that are being treated and my colleagues and the london ambulance service have been looking after them and ambulance service have been looking afterthem and am ambulance service have been looking after them and am pleased to say we work closely and partnership together. it is search and rescue and available soon move on to recovery. concerns have been raised through the course of the night and important those questions will answered. i will be demanding a nswe i’s answered. i will be demanding answers and i can answered. i will be demanding answers and i can assure you answered. i will be demanding answers and i can assure you that we will get the reassurance we need and make sure the lessons are learned and also make sure that if there are m ista kes and also make sure that if there are mistakes made we make sure we learn. clearly the focus on the investigation is what the building was made from an investigation is carried out. can you reassure people that your authorities are looking into whether that a similar council block buildings of a similar nature? there are type blogs across london and the country and the other responsibility of the local authority or a banner or private management company. it is important that people are reassured that the star blogs are safe. most importantly today is that we work with the emergency services in their search and rescue and recovery. it is right that we focus on housing temporarily for those who have lost their homes temporarily. —— that the tower blocks are safe. the london up to 600 people lived here — the blaze broke outjust before 1am this morning when most were asleep. no need to ring 999, there is a dedicated line for this incident. eyewitnesses say they saw people trapped in theirflats — shouting from their windows — trying to throw their children to safety. it was so dark and so much smoke was there. there was people running down the stairs, some people had luggage, it was so much confusion. there was no sound of alarm or bells whatsoever. mothers have come out and have lost their children, firefighters have come out injured. we do not know if there are even going to come out safe. the tower is still burning 12 hours later — firefighters are still inside searching for survivors. the mayor of london says a lot of people are unaccounted for. our focus now is search and rescue, although we're going to move to — i'm afraid — recovery. of course we've got to make sure that in the meantime we provide shelter to those who've had to flee their homes. grenfell tower had just been refurbished in the last year — at a cost of £10 million — residents say they were astonished by how fast the flames spread. it is not clear what started the fire. the london fire brigade chief saysin fire. the london fire brigade chief says in 29 years firefighting she has never seen like it. on bbc london we hearfrom the te na nts on bbc london we hearfrom the tenants who say they ignored safety advice to flee from the building with their lives. good afternoon. a huge fire is still burning in this residential tower block in west london. up to six hundred people may have been in the flats there when the blaze broke outjust before one o'clock this morning. six people are known to have died — though at this stage we have no idea how many that may be. around 70 people are being treated in hospitals across london and a major incident has been declared. residents who escaped from grenfell tower spoke of people trapped in their homes — screaming for help, some holding children from the windows, others jumping from higher floors. 40 fire engines and 200 firefighters have been tackling the blaze. what caused it and why it spread so rapidly is unknown. the prime minister has said she is "deeply saddened by the tragic loss of life". ourfirst report is from richard lister — you may find some of the images in his report distressing. the fire raged through the night. this 27 story block, home to hundreds of people, was engulfed in flames. residents waking up to smoke and panic. i could hear shouting and screaming, people saying it is getting bigger. there was smoke everywhere. cladding falling off the block of that was on fire. people screaming. you could see people at their windows waving and just wanting someone to come and rescue them from their flat. it was just awful. neighbours came desperate to help out with flaming debris falling from the tower block, their lives we re from the tower block, their lives were also at risk. no need to ring 999, there is a dedicated line for this incident. on the ground police closed the nearby a40 the ground police closed the nearby a 40 road, some 200 firefighters we re a 40 road, some 200 firefighters were brought in and led many residents to safety. more than 50 people were taken to hospital and as it began to get light it was clear there was still people trapped in there was still people trapped in the building. what floor are you on? seven. as the tower block burned people recalled the horror of what they had seen. people screaming, jumping out on fire, climbing out on ropes that they had made from bed sheets, just a complete nightmare. people were throwing the kids are saying just save my children. the fire brigade and ambulance and police could do nothing. they could not get in. theyjust told them to stay where they are, we will come and get you. things quickly escalated. everyone is in shock. people are searching for people with pictures. many kids from the school are missing. there were a lot of young kids and old people living in the block. it went right up, no stopping it. fire crews using breathing apparatus are still trying to search the building. but the fire was blazing all morning and it is a slow and dangerous task. the final number of casualties is still unclear. i'm very sad to confirmed they have been a number of fatalities. i cannot confirm the number at this time due to the size and complexity of this building and clearly it would be wrong for me to speculate further. equally the cause of the fire is not known at this stage. the incident that occurred overnight is truly shocking. it is going to take a period of time before we truly understand what has occurred, why it has occurred and the investigation will be complex and as you'd expect, thorough. the tower block is now a smoking ruin. it should've been one of the safest in the borough was a multi—million pound refurbishment completed last year. 125 families are now homeless and the priority for the local authorities to deal with is that homelessness. we need to make sure we provide shelterfor homelessness. we need to make sure we provide shelter for those who had to flee their homes and also the neighbouring properties are affected. other questions, reasonable questions that the residents across the country will have who live in tower blocks and we need to make sure there are answered. this is a community in shock, the immediate aftermath is horrific enough but there will be a long—term impact as well. this nurse helped survivors overnight.|j long—term impact as well. this nurse helped survivors overnight. i have seen helped survivors overnight. i have seen but today, i cannot even describe it. mothers that have come out and lost their children. firefighters that have come out injured. that we do not know if they're even going to come out safely. people have lost their homes, children have seen things, peoplejumping homes, children have seen things, people jumping out of the window. we just need to rebuild now as community. as the search for casualties continues, so does the search for answers. what led to this buyer and crucially how did it spread so quickly in a newly modernised block. destroying homes, traumatising families, and taking an unknown number of lives. richard lister, bbc news. nick paget brown is the leader of the council. you have been here since three o'clock this morning. truly horrifying what has happened. truly horrifying. it isa has happened. truly horrifying. it is a terrible day in the history of kensington. i have never seen a fire like this. my thoughts go out to all those who have lost relatives, cannot find their friends and relatives or who have been rendered homeless. clearly it is the most terrible tragedy. i'm very grateful to the local community for the support they have given to people who've lost their homes. and for the emergency services for the wonderful work they have done and support from neighbouring authorities, housing associations and others offering accommodation to people tonight. what has shocked people was the speed with which the blaze spread. one eyewitness said within half an hour of it catching fire the whole tower was like. i think that is right, when i arrived the flames we re right, when i arrived the flames were already engulfing several stories and it was moving very quickly. so there needs to be a investigation into why the fire started and why it spread so quickly. throughout the building. it has just been refurbished, quickly. throughout the building. it hasjust been refurbished, you're here for the reopening just last year. what have they been doing? there was a refurbishment, we are refurbishing many of the 1960s, 19705 the refurbishing many of the 19605, 19705 the states. to improve the heating and hot water systems and install better windows and improved insulation and make them more energy efficient. there was a major refurbishment with new cladding on the outside and clearly we will need to look at the standards that were applied. whether those were followed and met. and that is what we will be doing. and presumably you will need to look at other buildings also undergoing refurbishment. yes i think there are issues about towers and how they are refurbished and what materials are used and what warnings and measures are in place for people to evacuate the building. and we will need to have a look at all of that. but that is for the future, tonight my concern is to ensure that the residents have somewhere to stay. thank you. to let you know where we are, g re nfell tower to let you know where we are, grenfell tower is in west london, close to some of london's busiest transport routes, in north kensington, close to be a 40 westway, a main route into west london. we canjoin we can join now we canjoin now our we can join now our correspondent wyre davies who has a vantage point, he has been watching proceedings from a place close by. yes, indeed, lam from a place close by. yes, indeed, iamon from a place close by. yes, indeed, i am on the other side of the building effectively to you and we arejust on the building effectively to you and we are just on the edge of the exclusion zone. police and security services are keeping people well back from here because there is a lot of concern about the integrity of the building itself. throughout the night and the morning, we have seen the night and the morning, we have seen huge pieces of cladding falling off the building. in the last couple off the building. in the last couple of hours, there was a lot of concern because a new seat of fire and flame cooked or cold again right in the middle of the building, making it difficult for the fire service to get to. in the meantime, they have brought in this huge unmanned crane and that is now chucking out tonnes and that is now chucking out tonnes and gallons of water right into the middle of the building itself. as you can see, the very top of the building, there is still a very fierce fire still ablaze and that is causing concern. there were some array “— causing concern. there were some array —— heroic stories earlier on firefighters going into the building as residents were fleeing but there we re as residents were fleeing but there were concerns about the safety of the firefighters themselves. being able to get that unmanned crane adjacent to the building, you can see huge bits of masonry falling off now. it is far too dangerous for the crews to get close now bobby and manned crane is doing a good job of putting up the fire. i spoke to a local resident this morning and she said the thing that surprised how was how quickly the fire spread upwards from the middle of the buyer —— from the middle of the tower itself. we know six people have died already and when the buyer is out, there will be a recovery operation and the theories there will be perhaps many more fatalities, perhaps many more fatalities, perhaps many more people trapped in the top stories of the building. we have been contacted today by a group calling themselves the grenfell action group, a group from the tower themselves, a group who say they have complained many times over recent yea rs have complained many times over recent years about fire risk in the building itself. of course those kinds of things will come out in the enquiry which will undoubtedly happen but the big challenge remained several hours after this fire started to put out the fire itself. back to you. well, it is the smell that really hits you when you first arrive here and also just everywhere around, up to a quarter ofa mile everywhere around, up to a quarter of a mile away, there are charged bits of what must be the cladding that has loan at the building during the fire overnight. throughout the streets, big groups of people are gathering, handing out water to anyone who wants one. also handing out food, i met an eyewitness who had come here with armfuls of clothes, going to all of the centres that have opened up. she said so many people have given so much already that a lot of these centres we re already that a lot of these centres were literally turning people away. lots of questions about what happened last night but also questions about what is going to happen to the people who live in this tower block, where they are going to go now. tom burridge is that one of the police cordons. tom. i have been speaking to residents this morning and people said they have witnessed things they never thought they would. people hearing the screams of children trapped in the screams of children trapped in the building, witnessing presidents jump the building, witnessing presidents jump from several floors up. i spoke toa man jump from several floors up. i spoke to a man who spoke on the phone to his cousin who was trapped inside with her two—year—old son. the phone line went dead at 4am and he didn't know when i spoke to him what had happened to her cousin or her son. then there was the remarkable story ofa then there was the remarkable story of a woman who apparently through her baby out of the window several floors up down to residents who had made a makeshift parachute below. we believe the baby survived but we don't know what happened to his mother. teheran many stories of survival but there are many more sad stories —— there are many stories of survival but there are many more sad stories of those who died. grief when it is raw. this area is known for london's notting hill carnival. today, struggling to understand how a fire today, struggling to understand how afire in today, struggling to understand how a fire in taiwan's home could burn down a whole block of flats with such a devastating effect. this man lived there. there was so much smoke, people with luggage, so much confusion. there was no sound of fire alarm bells whatsoever. this was really horrific. there was a man who threw two of his children, people jumping out. and this lady told us a friend and her three children were trapped high up in the building. a friend told me they have been looking for her since 2am and they couldn't find anything. they just told me to go to hospital and as you have seen, we don't know nothing that happened. we don't know if they are alive or dead.|j nothing that happened. we don't know if they are alive or dead. i got the extinguisher and try to put it out and it didn't work. we had no chance. the kitchen started to fill with smoke, so i had to run, grab my telephone and my passport and they are the only things i have at the moment. when the left-hand side of the building was on fire, i remember seeing on the right—hand side, i rememberseeing seeing on the right—hand side, i remember seeing what seeing on the right—hand side, i rememberseeing whati seeing on the right—hand side, i remember seeing what i could see was a woman and a young child, a young man or something, putting their heads out of the window. this community woke to a nightmare. whether an accident or something more sinister, this is for all the wrong reasons so much more than a normal day. people have come out into the street this morning, disbelief, some anger too. there are the charred remains of the building all over the streets here, it is lifted, and there is a stench of the fire in the air. and this is a page of someone's maths homework. in no time, people rallied around. handing out and collecting, helping as they could. please do spread the word. if people just come down, into their pockets, that would be amazing. people have just come out of their houses, out of their homes. really via social media, really, and the response is amazing. it's a very caring team in there. we were here two hours ago leaving and we are back, so many more people. there we re back, so many more people. there were also small moments of relief and joy among all the sadness.|j have just found out from a very good friend, her daughter was separated from her, we have just got news that, thank god, she has been found. it isjust really, it is unbelievable. she has been found. she is in a hospital though. there was plenty of confusion about how many people have been killed, whether people this morning were still trapped. from the rear —— the rumours circling among the residents here, it doesn't sound good. as i walked up here, you could be forgiven for thinking that a lot of people were moving home, they weren't, they were carrying huge amounts of personal belongings, i saw people with duvets, clothes, and they were taking them to be survivors, people who have probably lost everything overnight. but of course a lot of the attention will be on the victims of this tragedy, those who have died, and you only have to look at the charred remains of that building behind me in the distance there to get a sense of how long it's going to take this investigation and to establish exactly how many people have died. tom burridge, thank you very much. i am here with one of the residents who has lost absolutely everything. everything. everything we own. and you were incredibly lucky? you were on the seventh floor. the fire broke out on the fourth floor and ice melted by chance. i was away, eve ryo ne melted by chance. i was away, everyone else was asleep. the fire alarms going off wouldn't have way can anyone. they should really have been allowed racket. so when you looked through the door?|j been allowed racket. so when you looked through the door? i saw the smoke in the corridor, straightaway i panicked, isaw smoke in the corridor, straightaway i panicked, i saw my spanish neighbours and i saw firemen panicking going, get out, get out. i saidi panicking going, get out, get out. i said i have got my girl and my mrs in there. i ran back in, that my dressing gown over my little girl's base, got my girlfriend out, as we ran down, it was getting darker and darker, horrifying. we managed to get out, fresh air, we looked at the building and it was involved, like it had been on fire for hours. i was looking at the top end there was a silhouette of three kids banging on the window. next thing you know, bang,it the window. next thing you know, bang, it exploded and the pre—silhouettes had gone. someone else told me there were someone on the refund they saw them jump off. it is absolutely horrendous. the refund they saw them jump off. it is absolutely horrendousm the refund they saw them jump off. it is absolutely horrendous. it is not what you expect in the 21st century. no, and the fire regulations in there must be resourced, because itjust didn't happen. it spread so fast. the fire spread so quickly. there was a fire ina spread so quickly. there was a fire in a tower nearby recently and it was segregated, the fire was stopped in one place. properfire regulations. this just went up and was even spitting over into the school. there were lots of fire engines and about 40 police vans but only two fire engines sprang at the time. people up on the 23rd floor who couldn't get out. the firefighters couldn't get up that far because it was so hot so quickly. it is extraordinary because the advice a lot of people were told was to stay in your home? yes, you stay in there with a wet towel by your door and you will be rescued within the hour. the flats are designed for that but there was no way i was going to wait an hour with the aggressiveness of the fire. what happens to you now? you have lost everything. we have got to wait for emergency housing and then we have to be everything again. but you are alive and your stepdaughter and girlfriend. yes, god willing. ijust feel sorry for everybody who has perished and their families. the people crying outside, there is so much tragedy and someone has got to a nswer much tragedy and someone has got to answer for much tragedy and someone has got to answerfor this, someone much tragedy and someone has got to answer for this, someone has much tragedy and someone has got to answerfor this, someone has got to be held responsible. an absolutely horrific situation. thank you very much for speaking to us though. we know that around 70 people are being treated in hospitals across london now. helen ali is that chelsea and westminster hospital nearby. that's right, so be. we are around three miles or so away from where you are. this is one of london's busiest hospitals, chelsea and westminster, it has its own accident and emergency department, but we know that a major incident was triggered here in the early hours of this morning and the london ambulance brought in 25 patients who were admitted here to this hospital and, crucially, at this hospital they have got a specialist burns unit which is available to treat both children and adults and i am told within the most of the early injured, they will have been brought to this hospital here. —— the most severely injured. they have got dedicated burns consultants, specialist nurses and also cook psychologists because not only will they need medical support, but also we have heard those harrowing accou nts we have heard those harrowing accounts from eyewitnesses throughout this morning and the injured at this hospital and the other for hospitals will need to have also that psychological support to help them deal with what they went through last night. helen ali at chelsea and westminster hospital, thank you. let's go to another nearby hospital that has been taking the injured. jane draper is that st mary's in paddington. that's right. 16 patients here, survivors of the buyer, three of whom are being treated are critically injured and that another nearby hospital in west london, and other for that another nearby hospital in west london, and otherfor patience, none of those are critical. i understand that all of the injured patients across london are being treated for the effects of inhaling smoke. none of the injured survivors suffered burns, apparently. the hospital here displayed a major incident in the middle of the night was that there have been distressing scenes here. i spoke to one woman searching for a friend of hers, a mother of three who lived on the 20th floor of the tower block. we have heard here how dove rolled up their sleeves and came in off duty. the trust's medical duty —— medical director briefed reporters earlier. we have for patients, none of whom are critical. i am very proud of the fantastic response from our staff, both those on duty and those who came in as a response to the major incident protocol. we continue to ca re incident protocol. we continue to care for patients who are primarily suffering from the effects of smoke inhalation. along with the emergency services and other receiving hospitals, we are ensuring we are doing everything we can to care for and support those affected by this dreadful incident. 0ur accident and emergency department at both hospitals remain busy and we are asking members of the public to attend only if it is an emergency. we are requesting that where possible they attend their local walk—in centres or their general practice. we are trying to see as many patents with scheduled appointment as possible during this time. and it's the third time in three months that this