Tragic fire in London

Six people have been confirmed dead and a number of people are missing as more than 200 firefighters continue to battle a huge blaze at a tower block in west London.

Police say the death toll is expected to increase during a "complex recovery operation" which will likely take a number of days to complete.

The London Ambulance Service have said 64 people were taken to six London hospitals and a further 10 went to hospital on their own. Twenty people remain in critical care.

Many residents were trapped in their flats when the fire broke out at the Grenfell Tower in Latimer Road, North Kensington, shortly before 1am on Wednesday morning.

In a statement at 11.30am, Commander Stuart Cundy, of the Metropolitan Police, said: "I can confirm six fatalities at this time but this figure is likely to rise during what will be a complex recovery operation over a number of days. Many others are receiving medical care."

He said it was likely to be some time before police are able to identify the victims, adding that it was too early to speculate on the cause of the fire. 

“We kindly ask that the public stay away from the area. Extensive cordons remain in place and a number of nearby residents have been evacuated as a precaution. The A40 is closed in both directions,” Cundy added.

London’s Fire Brigade says that a structural engineer and urban search and rescue crews have assessed the stability of the burning tower block and believe it is not in danger of collapsing.

The brigade says “it is safe for our crews to be in there.” It added the cause of the massive fire is not known at this stage. The apartment block is still engulfed in thick black smoke.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has said there are "questions that have to be answered" after residents of Grenfell Tower were told to stay in their flats in the event of a fire. 

Khan condemned the "bad advice" given to residents of the West London tower block that was engulfed in flames overnight, killing several inhabitants and leaving many trapped inside the burning building. 

A newsletter to residents in 2014 said the "stay put" policy worked because the block had been designed according to “rigorous fire safety standards”.

"Thankfully residents didn't take that advice but fled... these are some of the questions that have to be answered. We have lots of people in London living in tower blocks... We can't have peoples lives being put at risk because of bad advice or lack of maintenance," Khan told BBC Radio 4.

One witness said they believed the fire was started by a faulty fridge.  "The fire started on the fourth floor, my neighbour told me it was his fridge that exploded," the Sun cited a witness as saying.