London fire: Witness recalls seeing man catch baby

A fast-moving overnight fire engulfed the 24-storey apartment tower on Wednesday, killing twelve people and injuring 74 others, police said.

Soon after, people nearby reported seeing flames and smoke shooting from the window of the Grenfell Tower in the west London neighborhood of North Kensington.

Amid mounting concerns over fire safety mechanisms and instructions given by officials, London Mayor Sadiq Khan acknowledged Wednesday that there were "genuine questions that people across the country who live in tower blocks will have".

London Fire Brigade Assistant Commissioner, Steve Apter, said there were "still pockets of fire yet to be extinguished in places particularly hard to reach" but "almost all" of the building had been searched.

As firefighters were still searching for survivors of Wednesday's devastating high-rise fire in the west of London, there were immediate questions about whether the multi-fatality incident could have been prevented if simple safety measures had been in place.

The fire started around 1 a.m. London time and spread quickly through the building.

Joanna O'Connor, a local resident, told Sky News: 'At about 2am I was woken up by screaming, sirens and helicopters.

Grenfell Tower was meant to be among the jewels of an $85 million (£67 million) urban regeneration scheme carried out by the London borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

Rydon, the developers, said refubishment work met "all required building control, fire regulation and health and safety standards".

"I see many people in London are providing food and essentials, but I think it's also important we as a country come together to help them get back on their feet". "I consider this mass murder".

A local residents association had previously warned it was anxious about the risk of a serious fire in the block. Help! Help!' and putting their hands on the window and asking to help them", Amina Sharif, a witness, told Reuters."We could do nothing and we could see the stuff on the side was falling off, collapsing.

"The council were aware of all the problems that's going on in the tower block", she said, explaining that since the refurbishment there had been problems with the electricity and gas.

"Also, the new front doors for each flat can withstand a fire for up to 30 minutes, which gives plenty of time for the fire brigade to arrive".

Around 200 firefighters, 40 fire trucks and 20 ambulance crews were at the scene at the height of the blaze.

Some witness reports say children and a baby were seen being thrown out of windows amid the blaze.

"If the same concerns were had in a wealthy part of Kensington and Chelsea they would have got resolved, but here they didn't get resolved", said Collins.

'This incident reminds us that it is vitally important that people remember exactly what to do in the event of a fire so that they can protect themselves and their families'.

"If it did somehow manage to overcome the sprinkler system, the buildings are so well compartmentalized.everything is created to keep the fire limited to the suite of origin".

Lamrai said she could hear the screams, many of them coming from children.

Assistant Commissioner Dan Daly said: "Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus are working extremely hard in very difficult conditions to tackle this fire".