Huge fire engulfs tower block in London

June 14, 2017 - 11:6

A huge fire has raged through the night at a west London tower block, with eyewitnesses claiming people were trapped inside.

More than 200 firefighters are still tackling the blaze at Grenfell Tower in north Kensington, where hundreds of people are thought to live.

London Ambulance said 30 people are receiving hospital treatment.

The whole 24-storey block had been alight and there were fears the building might collapse.

"A significant number of people" were unaccounted for, a BBC correspondent reported.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said a "major incident" had been declared.

At about 04:00 BST police said, "Residents continue to be evacuated from the tower block."

Eyewitnesses said they have seen lights - thought to be mobile phones or torches - flashing at the top of the block of flats.

London Fire Brigade assistant commissioner Dan Daly said firefighters were "working extremely hard in very difficult conditions to tackle this fire".

"This is a large and very serious incident and we have deployed numerous resources and specialist appliances."

The first reports of fire in the tower, in Latimer Road, on the Lancaster West Estate, came in at 00:54 BST.

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