At least six people have died after a huge fire destroyed a tower block in west London, but the death toll is expected to rise.
Flames tore up the 24-storey Grenfell Tower in north Kensington, leaving people trapped on upper floors, including children, some holding babies from windows and others jumping from their flats.
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.
London Fire Commissioner Dany Cotton told reporters: "This is an unprecedented incident. In my 29 years of being a firefighter, I have never ever seen anything of this scale."
Grenfell Tower was built in 1974 and contains 120 flats thought to be home to between 400 and 600 people.
The building was refurbished recently at a cost of £8.6 million, with work completed in May last year.
London Fire Brigade said the cause of the fire was still being investigated, but several residents reported one man had said it started in his faulty fridge.
The brigade said a structural engineer had checked the building and determined it was not in danger of collapse and that rescue teams were safe to be inside.
Many traumatic accounts of the fire and its impact have emerged, including a baby being dropped from the tower.
Samira Lamrani said she saw a woman try to save a baby by dropping it from a window ''on the ninth or 10th floor'' to waiting members of the public below.
Residents who escaped complained there had been no fire alarm, with many relying on neighbours to wake them as the blaze spread.
They said official advice in the event of a fire had been to stay inside.
Mickey Paramasivan, who was in his seventh floor flat with his partner and child, said: "If we'd listened to them and stayed in the flat we'd have perished."
A residents' action group said its warnings about safety had fallen on "deaf ears".
A blog post from Grenfell Action Group in November said "only a catastrophic event" would expose the concerns residents had.
The group said there was one entry and exit to the tower during improvement works and it had issues with evacuation procedures.
London mayor Sadiq Khan said: "There will be a great many questions over the coming days as to the cause of this tragedy and I want to reassure Londoners that we will get all the answers."
Pictures from the scene showed flames engulfing the block and a plume of smoke visible across the capital, while others showed residents looking out of windows.
Other witnesses said the fire spread rapidly up the building, with some suggesting it was fuelled by gas.
Muna Ali, 45, said: "The flames, I have never seen anything like it, it just reminded me of 9/11.
"The fire started on the upper floors ... oh my goodness, it spread so quickly, it had completely spread within half an hour."
London Ambulance Service said paramedics had taken more than 50 patients to five hospitals.
Robert Black, chief executive of Kensington & Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation, which manages Grenfell, said: "The fire at Grenfell Tower is devastating and the reports of injury and losses of life absolutely heartbreaking."