A Massive Fire Has Engulfed a Residential Tower in London

Some 200 firefighters have spent the past five hours battling a blaze that's engulfed a high-rise apartment block in London's west. Emergency services were called to Ladbroke Grove around 1:15 AM (London time) on Wednesday morning after a fire broke out in the 24-storey (some reports are saying 27-storey) Grenfell Tower, which is home to at least 200 people. While the fire now seems under control, live footage shows smoke pouring from the gutted structure.

London mayor Sadiq Khan declared the fire a "major incident" with 30 people taken to five different hospitals. Local mayor, Nick Paget-Brown, has told Sky News UK it's not known how many people were in the tower when the blaze broke out. "Several hundred would have been in there," he said. "It's a question of establishing how many were in there at the time of the fire."

There are reports a number of residents were trapped inside. On Twitter, onlookers say they've seen people signalling for help from the windows of the tower's upper floors with flashlights, blankets, and phone lights. There are also reports of audible screams from the street below.

Officials have not confirmed whether anyone is trapped—only that two people were treated on the scene for smoke inhalation. Firefighter Jody Martin told the BBC, "Once I got to the corridor I realised there was so much smoke there… I watched another woman holding her baby out the window… hearing screams, I was yelling everyone to get down and they were saying, 'We can't leave our apartments, the smoke is too bad in the corridors.'"

The latest images from the scene show the building has been completely destroyed by fire. "The fire has spread through all the building. The whole building has been engulfed. It has gone," witness Tim Downie told the Telegraph. "The building is pretty much burned out. It is gutted… I have never seen anything like it, the smell, the burning, the heat is extraordinary."

Grenfell Tower, which is owned by the local council, underwent an AU$17 million (£10 million) refurbishment last year. Questions are being raised by locals as to whether the new cladding added to the building may have contributed to the blaze.

More to come.