Death Toll In London Apartment Building Fire Rises To 17

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Smoke rises from the building after a huge fire engulfed the 24 story Grenfell Tower in west London.

This is the chilling phone call from one former Grenfell Tower resident who found out his friend had died in the fire in the most tragic of ways.

"They were the first people with bags of water, giving to people and helping people - running and telling people", she said in a Stuff.co.nz report.

The 29-year-old British star was photographed in a long black dress attending a vigil at the scene of the incident in Kensington.

The blaze ripped through the block in North Kensington in the early hours of Wednesday morning after reportedly starting on the third or fourth floor.

Almost 78 people were injured, and 34 remain in hospitals across London - 18 of them in critical condition.

Buckingham Palace issued a statement on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II, who praised the efforts of the fire crews and said her "thoughts and prayers" are with the families of the victims.

London firefighters combed through a burned-out public housing tower Thursday in a grim search for missing people as police and the prime minister launched investigations into the deadly inferno, with pressure building on officials to explain the disaster and assure that similar buildings around the country are safe.

Fire commissioner Dany Cotton said on British television that authorities didn't expect to find anyone else alive after the blaze.

Nassima Boutrig, who lives opposite the building, said she was awakened by sirens and smoke so thick that it filled her home as well.

"There is an endemic fire safety problem in this type of housing stock", she said.

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"She is not here to be in solidarity with the people, she is just here for her own name".

Cotton says that firefighters are having trouble with the aftermath. Some people jumped to their deaths rather than face the flames, and witnesses reported seeing small children thrown from the tower by their families in a desperate bid to survive.

Because of the size of the building, she said the operation could take weeks. "The severity and the heat of the fire will mean that it will be an absolute miracle for anyone to be left alive". Oh my goodness, it spread so quickly.

Meanwhile, 44 households were given emergency accommodation after the blaze.

A tenants' group had complained for years about the risk of a fire in the building.

Wednesday's fire was unlike any seen here in recent memory, a blaze that transformed a high-rise that was once home to about 500 people into a charred ruin on the skyline.

That death toll was up by five from the figure given on Wednesday, but authorities said many more victims were still expected.

Community centres have been overwhelmed by the food and clothing donations flooding in for those left homeless by the Grenfell fire and have started turning away new donations.

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has offered free food for survivors at one of his nearby eateries.

But at times of horrific tragedy it's the public who come together to help those in need, as Adele and husband Simon Konecki illustrated last night.

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