GRENFELL TOWER DISASTER :
- 6 people confirmed dead but death toll is expected to rise
- Nurse calls it the 'worst incident' of their career
- 24-storey apartment tower was completed in 1974
- Contains 120 flats, hosing an estimated 400-550 people
- Managed by Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation
- Blog posts from residents had raised questions over building's safety
- Residents report that the fire alarm system failed to go off
- Fire began after 1am in the lower floors of the building
- Eyewitnesses blame recently installed cladding for speed of fire
- Terrifying eyewitness accounts reveal residents jumped from windows
- 'Miraculous' survival of baby thrown from 9th floor of tower inferno
- Desperate search for missing loved ones begins
A massive blaze at a 24-storey tower block in London has killed at least six people and another 74 are in hospitals.
Twenty are being treated in critical care with police warning the number of dead is expected to rise as a "complex recovery operation" begins.
The blaze broke out in the 1974-built Grenfell Tower, home to hundreds of people, shortly after 1am, with local residents blaming newly installed cladding for the fast spread of the fire.
As the blaze burned through the building it created a plume of smoke that could be seen from miles away.
Evacuated residents today claimed that the building's fire alarm failed to go off.
Locals also claimed that the building was "an accident waiting to happen", warning of a potential fire in a series of disturbing blog posts as far back as 2013.
The prime minister was also dragged into the tragedy after it was revealed her new chief advisor failed to carry out a review of fire regulations in tower blocks – despite being warned of the potential for a devastating fire.
The fire is now largely under control, after more than 200 firefighters and 40 engines rushed to the scene, but stories of bravery, generosity and the'miraculous' survival of a baby thrown from the ninth storey have provided some comfort as the scale of the devastation becomes clear.