Woman trapped in Grenfell Tower films panic as fire engulfs block
Written by News on 15/06/2017
A woman can be heard screaming for help in shocking footage she broadcast while trapped on one of Grenfell Tower’s top floors – and she has still not been accounted for.
She filmed her efforts to save other residents and alert emergency workers as a huge fire engulfed the west London high-rise block.
The disturbing footage, obtained by Sky News after the woman aired it on Facebook Live around 1.40am on Wednesday, reveals the horror those stuck inside the 24-storey tower faced.
The video shows how only her front door was protecting her flat from being overwhelmed by smoke.
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Another woman is heard saying: "Don’t open the front door, you’re going to bring the smoke in. You’re not going to be able to breathe."
Noises outside then appear to alert the women to other residents trapped on the top floors of the north Kensington building, before they beckon them into their flat.
Sky News is unaware if the woman or the other residents escaped.
The panicked woman later shouts down to police on the ground: "We’re stuck on the 23rd floor, hello! There’s too many people stuck upstairs."
She is also heard praying.
Around the same time as the footage was broadcast on Facebook, witnesses on the ground filmed the blaze consuming the building.
The hoses of fire crews, who were first called to the scene at 12.54am, were not able to reach the upper floors of the block, with their cranes only reaching the 12th floor. Many residents on lower floors escaped.
At least 12 people have died in the tragedy, with hospitals across the capital treating 78 people, of whom 18 are in critical care.
Police are unable to say how many people are missing in total. Grenfell Tower is believed to house between 400 and 600 people.
(c) Sky News 2017: Woman trapped in Grenfell Tower films panic as fire engulfs block
