In a massive fire which engulfed a 24-storey building in London where 6 people died and 50 people were rushed to five hospitals in London, but the Fire Brigade of London says that it is too early to tell the cause of the fire.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan declared a “major incident” after the blaze engulfed the Grenfell Tower in North Kensington just before 1 a.m local time Wednesday. Around 200 firefighters, 40 fire trucks and 20 ambulance crews were at the scene.
Several residents told their stories of their rescue:
1.According to the reports, one resident of the tower, Michael Paramasivan, said he was watching TV as his girlfriend and daughter slept when he smelled burning plastic. Soon he saw the smoke and chaos. “I grabbed my little girl and ran down the stairs,” he said. “Half of the building was ablaze by the time we got out. And it was just spreading like wildfire. If I were asleep, we would have all been dead — that’s how bad it was,” he said.
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2. Tia Abrahams, who lives close to the scene, got there before the fire brigade.
“There were people banging on windows screaming, crying out for help. There were even young children banging on the windows. It wasn’t good,” told Tia. “These were about 4 or 3-year-old children who I can imagine didn’t understand what was going on. As the fire progressed, you could hear screams of agony from people,” she said. “It was horrible.”
She did not know if the children managed to get out.
3. Nick Paget-Brown, the local council leader said “We need more information. This is an early stage of an awful incident,” he said. “We have a clear emergency plan for dealing with the immediate incident and then there will need to be a thorough plan for helping residents who have lost their homes.”
4. Simone Williams, a nurse who lives nearby and was one of the first people on the scene, said she saw a huge inferno of flames going up, with people screaming and waving flags or T-shirts out of windows. “I’ve never seen anything like it in my life and I hope to never see anything like it again,” she said.
She said that even firefighters had to seek medical attention after being inside the building: “It’s very hot in there … the firefighters are in their special gear, but they were still coming out wounded.” At one point, 30 to 40 men turned up at the tower trying to get in to help their families but were turned away by the authorities for their own safety. “How do you tell someone to not save your wife, not save your child?” Williams said. She added that the worst thing about the fire was “children (who) went to bed, thinking they were going to school tomorrow.” Their futures have “gone in just a few moments and we don’t know why.”
5. According to the reports, Asia Phillips, 13 that a 12-year-old friend of hers lived on the twentieth floor of Grenfell Tower. Phillips managed to reach her earlier in the day, but now can’t get through. “We just want to know she’s safe,” she said, adding that Grenfell was “part of history around Notting Hill. To think that it’s just gone now, it’s heartbreaking.”
