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London fire: Twelve confirmed dead but police expect further fatalities after tower block blaze – latest updates | London fire: Twelve confirmed dead but police expect further fatalities after tower block blaze – latest updates |
(35 minutes later) | |
7.22pm BST | |
19:22 | |
Emergency accommodation has been provided to 44 of the households affected by the fire, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea council has said. Families with young children, elderly residents and those who are vulnerable have been given “immediate priority”. | |
The authority said it was helping anyone who needed emergency accommodation and had offered “financial assistance to cover their immediate needs”, adding that housing officers would work through the night to provide support. | |
People unable to return to their homes will be offered emergency accommodation at Westway Sports Centre in Crowthorne Road, north Kensington. | |
The council’s leader, Nick Paget-Brown, said: | |
This is a terrible day for Kensington and Chelsea and we are doing all we can to support the victims and their families. At present all our focus has to be on supporting the rescue and relief operation. But the cause of the fire will need to be fully investigated and we will keep people informed. | |
A council spokesman also thanked people who made “generous donations of food, clothing and other items”, but added: “We would ask you to please hold off for now as we have been inundated with useful items. When we need donations again we will update via our website and social media”. | |
A casualty bureau has been set up with the number 0800 0961 233, while residents displaced by fire have been asked to call 020 7361 3008. Volunteers who wish to help with the support effort can contact 020 7361 3008. | |
Updated | |
at 7.30pm BST | |
7.18pm BST | |
19:18 | |
Robert Black, the chief executive of Kensington and Chelsea tenant management organisation (TMO), which manages Grenfell Tower, has said he is devastated by observations that the cladding on the tower may have added to the speed and intensity at which the fire spread. | |
He told ITV News: | |
We had no expectation this would happen, we are absolutely devastated by it. And we are trying to work out – now at this stage I can listen to what people say but I don’t have any information and therefore it’s really difficult for me to comment. | |
We will be working with the fire brigade and the police and as you can imagine their ongoing investigation isn’t even finished yet. | |
Asked whether it was the TMO’s responsibility to keep people safe he responded: “Absolutely”. He added: | |
It’s a huge responsibility [to keep people safe] which we take seriously – what I have to work out now, along with the investigation, and find out what happened - is everything we have done is in line with the building controls laid down. | |
Updated | |
at 7.33pm BST | |
7.04pm BST | |
19:04 | |
My colleague, Lisa O’Carroll, is at the scene of the fire and has details on what people there are saying they still need: | |
Truly shocking sight. Debris still falling from the sky. Lumps of Blackened styrofoam everywhere that turns to powder underfoot pic.twitter.com/6CvJMtptsk | |
#GrenfellTower pic.twitter.com/ykCdE0U327 | |
6.53pm BST | 6.53pm BST |
18:53 | 18:53 |
More than £100,000 has been pledged to a series of appeals launched to help the people affected by the tower block fire, a crowdfunding website says. The campaigns on GoFundMe can be viewed here. | More than £100,000 has been pledged to a series of appeals launched to help the people affected by the tower block fire, a crowdfunding website says. The campaigns on GoFundMe can be viewed here. |
6.46pm BST | 6.46pm BST |
18:46 | 18:46 |
The British prime minister, Theresa May, has released a statement after the fire: | The British prime minister, Theresa May, has released a statement after the fire: |
I am deeply saddened by the tragic loss of life at Grenfell Tower. My thoughts are with all those affected and the emergency services. | I am deeply saddened by the tragic loss of life at Grenfell Tower. My thoughts are with all those affected and the emergency services. |
Updated | Updated |
at 6.57pm BST | at 6.57pm BST |
6.33pm BST | 6.33pm BST |
18:33 | 18:33 |
Haroon Siddique | Haroon Siddique |
Here’s what we know so far about the Grenfell Tower fire: | Here’s what we know so far about the Grenfell Tower fire: |
6.30pm BST | 6.30pm BST |
18:30 | 18:30 |
Following a meeting of the government’s Civil Contingencies Secretariat, the policing and fire minister, Nick Hurd, refused to be drawn on reports that ministers had been warned that building regulations were in urgent need of updating. | Following a meeting of the government’s Civil Contingencies Secretariat, the policing and fire minister, Nick Hurd, refused to be drawn on reports that ministers had been warned that building regulations were in urgent need of updating. |
I hope people will understand that the priority of the government at the moment is to manage the emergency response, to deal with the security, to deal with lives to be saved, lives to be rebuilt, and to make sure that we have got the support in place for this emergency response. | I hope people will understand that the priority of the government at the moment is to manage the emergency response, to deal with the security, to deal with lives to be saved, lives to be rebuilt, and to make sure that we have got the support in place for this emergency response. |
That will then move into recovery phase and then we will move into a phase where we seek to answer the questions that people quite understandably have, so we really understand what happened here, what went wrong, so we don’t find ourselves in this situation, because I don’t think that anybody wants to go through another night like last night. | That will then move into recovery phase and then we will move into a phase where we seek to answer the questions that people quite understandably have, so we really understand what happened here, what went wrong, so we don’t find ourselves in this situation, because I don’t think that anybody wants to go through another night like last night. |
Hurd said that whatever resources were needed to deal with the situation would be made available. | Hurd said that whatever resources were needed to deal with the situation would be made available. |
Everyone I have spoken to on the frontline - the fire, the police, the ambulance services - resources have not been the issue. People arrived very quickly in good numbers and with the right equipment to deal with an unprecedented situation last night. | Everyone I have spoken to on the frontline - the fire, the police, the ambulance services - resources have not been the issue. People arrived very quickly in good numbers and with the right equipment to deal with an unprecedented situation last night. |
The government is absolutely determined to make sure we are there to support the emergency and support services but also the people who have been caught up in this tragedy. | The government is absolutely determined to make sure we are there to support the emergency and support services but also the people who have been caught up in this tragedy. |
6.23pm BST | 6.23pm BST |
18:23 | 18:23 |
Lisa O'Carroll | Lisa O'Carroll |
The Westway sports centre, near the tower, has been converted into an enormous emergency shelter following the Grenfell disaster. | The Westway sports centre, near the tower, has been converted into an enormous emergency shelter following the Grenfell disaster. |
Alex Russell, the director of communications for the Westway trust, the charity behind the centre, said they could accommodate 300 people tonight. The basement sports hall was covered with hundreds of airbeds, mattresses and duvets donated by local people from early this morning. Russell, speaking as the acrid smell from the still-smouldering 24-floor charred shell hung in the air, said: | Alex Russell, the director of communications for the Westway trust, the charity behind the centre, said they could accommodate 300 people tonight. The basement sports hall was covered with hundreds of airbeds, mattresses and duvets donated by local people from early this morning. Russell, speaking as the acrid smell from the still-smouldering 24-floor charred shell hung in the air, said: |
We have been told to expect people not from the Grenfall Tower but the houses around the area that had to be evacuated. We are expecting several hundred and are welcoming people from now. | We have been told to expect people not from the Grenfall Tower but the houses around the area that had to be evacuated. We are expecting several hundred and are welcoming people from now. |
The reception area was full of tables full of donated essentials including bread, water, milk, cereals and other food. | The reception area was full of tables full of donated essentials including bread, water, milk, cereals and other food. |
The Westway operation swung into action independently of Kensington and Chelsea Council, said Russell. | The Westway operation swung into action independently of Kensington and Chelsea Council, said Russell. |
The trust owns the land here and this morning we just thought we have an opportunity to help and the gym is a large, very safe place. | The trust owns the land here and this morning we just thought we have an opportunity to help and the gym is a large, very safe place. |
Updated | Updated |
at 6.35pm BST | at 6.35pm BST |
6.19pm BST | 6.19pm BST |
18:19 | 18:19 |
Housing activists have called the tower block fire a tragedy that was the result of a “combination of government cuts, local authority mismanagement, and sheer contempt for council tenants and the homes they live in”. | Housing activists have called the tower block fire a tragedy that was the result of a “combination of government cuts, local authority mismanagement, and sheer contempt for council tenants and the homes they live in”. |
The statement was released by a network that counts among its members the Grenfell Action Group, which had warned about the danger of such a tragedy and claimed the local council was ignoring its concerns. | The statement was released by a network that counts among its members the Grenfell Action Group, which had warned about the danger of such a tragedy and claimed the local council was ignoring its concerns. |
The statement from the London-wide Radical Housing Network demanded that the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea offered Grenfell residents “secure, long-term local housing”. | The statement from the London-wide Radical Housing Network demanded that the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea offered Grenfell residents “secure, long-term local housing”. |
The fire at Grenfell is a horrific, preventable tragedy for which authorities and politicians must be held to account. Grenfell’s council tenants are not second-class citizens – yet they are facing a disaster unimaginable in Kensington’s richer neighbourhoods. | The fire at Grenfell is a horrific, preventable tragedy for which authorities and politicians must be held to account. Grenfell’s council tenants are not second-class citizens – yet they are facing a disaster unimaginable in Kensington’s richer neighbourhoods. |
This government, and many before it, have neglected council housing and disregarded its tenants as if they were second class. Nationally and locally, politicians have subjected public housing to decades of systematic disinvestment – leaving properties in a state of disrepair, and open to privatisation. Regeneration, when it has come, has been for the benefit of developers and buy-to-let landlords, who profit from the new luxury flats built in place of affordable homes. Across London, regeneration has meant evictions, poor quality building work, and has given tenants little meaningful influence over the future of their estates. | This government, and many before it, have neglected council housing and disregarded its tenants as if they were second class. Nationally and locally, politicians have subjected public housing to decades of systematic disinvestment – leaving properties in a state of disrepair, and open to privatisation. Regeneration, when it has come, has been for the benefit of developers and buy-to-let landlords, who profit from the new luxury flats built in place of affordable homes. Across London, regeneration has meant evictions, poor quality building work, and has given tenants little meaningful influence over the future of their estates. |
The chronic underinvestment in council housing and contempt for tenants must stop. It is an outrage that in 21st-century Britain, authorities cannot be trusted to provide safe housing, and that people in council properties cannot put children safely to bed at night. | The chronic underinvestment in council housing and contempt for tenants must stop. It is an outrage that in 21st-century Britain, authorities cannot be trusted to provide safe housing, and that people in council properties cannot put children safely to bed at night. |
The group also called for Gavin Barwell to resign as Theresa May’s chief of staff after he was accused of sitting on a report warning about the dangers of fire in high-rise blocks during his time as housing minister. | The group also called for Gavin Barwell to resign as Theresa May’s chief of staff after he was accused of sitting on a report warning about the dangers of fire in high-rise blocks during his time as housing minister. |
We support demands for a public inquiry into this disaster – there must be justice for Grenfell. We call for the immediate resignation of Gavin Barwell, Theresa May’s chief of staff, alongside anyone else whose negligence has contributed to this tragedy. | We support demands for a public inquiry into this disaster – there must be justice for Grenfell. We call for the immediate resignation of Gavin Barwell, Theresa May’s chief of staff, alongside anyone else whose negligence has contributed to this tragedy. |
All Grenfell Tower residents must be offered secure, long-term local housing by RBKC, and the estate must be fully rebuilt so that no social housing is lost – this should not be an opportunity for the council to privatise homes, or for someone to make a quick buck. | All Grenfell Tower residents must be offered secure, long-term local housing by RBKC, and the estate must be fully rebuilt so that no social housing is lost – this should not be an opportunity for the council to privatise homes, or for someone to make a quick buck. |
Updated | Updated |
at 6.23pm BST | at 6.23pm BST |
5.58pm BST | 5.58pm BST |
17:58 | 17:58 |
Harriet Sherwood | Harriet Sherwood |
Tensions have erupted in clashes with the police outside the Rugby Portobello trust, which is acting as a centre for dispossessed people. | Tensions have erupted in clashes with the police outside the Rugby Portobello trust, which is acting as a centre for dispossessed people. |
The road outside the club was packed with people, some in tears and some wailing. A fracas broke out, apparently over a journalist trying to film a distraught woman. Some men moved to protect the woman and, within seconds, a large contingent of police officers were jostling with the crowd amid shouting and screaming. | The road outside the club was packed with people, some in tears and some wailing. A fracas broke out, apparently over a journalist trying to film a distraught woman. Some men moved to protect the woman and, within seconds, a large contingent of police officers were jostling with the crowd amid shouting and screaming. |
Angry angry scenes here. One family heard some bad news. Anger turned on a cameraman and now this. Grenfell Tower. pic.twitter.com/1P1yUb7guL | Angry angry scenes here. One family heard some bad news. Anger turned on a cameraman and now this. Grenfell Tower. pic.twitter.com/1P1yUb7guL |
One onlooker said the police and media were acting insensitively towards people whose loved ones were missing following the fire. “Emotions are running very high,” he said. | One onlooker said the police and media were acting insensitively towards people whose loved ones were missing following the fire. “Emotions are running very high,” he said. |
Superintendent Graham Price told the Guardian it wasn’t entirely clear what had caused the “disorder”, but he had reports that people in the local community could not get through on casualty helplines and had congregated at the trust. | Superintendent Graham Price told the Guardian it wasn’t entirely clear what had caused the “disorder”, but he had reports that people in the local community could not get through on casualty helplines and had congregated at the trust. |
“Some felt the media was being overly intrusive and that led to a bit of disorder,” he said. | “Some felt the media was being overly intrusive and that led to a bit of disorder,” he said. |
Calm was swiftly restored but the incident was an indication of rising levels of anger and distress among locals. | Calm was swiftly restored but the incident was an indication of rising levels of anger and distress among locals. |
Supt Price said the police were dealing with a very complex situation. “There are 24 floors [in Grenfell Tower] and around 200 residents and a lot unaccounted for. This is a very difficult time.” | Supt Price said the police were dealing with a very complex situation. “There are 24 floors [in Grenfell Tower] and around 200 residents and a lot unaccounted for. This is a very difficult time.” |
Updated | Updated |
at 6.18pm BST | at 6.18pm BST |