Grenfell Tower in west London was engulfed in a fire.
There's nothing to suggest the fire was terror-related, London police commander said.
The death toll in a fire that ripped through a 24-storey Grenfell Tower in Kensington of West London has reached 17 as of 11 am Thursday.
May moved quickly to establish exactly what caused the fire - and why it moved so quickly, engulfing the building that housed as many as 600 people in less than an hour.
One of the first victims was identified - Mohammed Alhaj Ali, a 23-year-old Syrian refugee studying in London and hoping to return to help his war-torn country. "There are, as we believe, still unknown numbers of people in the building".
70 people are receiving hospital treatment after being caught up in the blaze, which swept the building after a fridge on the fourth floor caught fire, with 18 people in a critical condition.
Meanwhile, the Commissioner of the London Fire Brigade, Danny Cotton, said firefighters have not started going into the building yet.
The cause of the fire isn't yet known, but residents say they've known for years that the Grenfell building was a fire hazard.
Cotton added that forces will carry on being at the scene for the following days "to ensure that we do the best for the people who are waiting for news of their loved ones".
Britain, EU in suspense
May hopes to make an ally of Macron before the formal opening of Brexit negotiations, which is expected to take place next week. Before travelling to the French capital, Mrs May had been leading the talks with the DUP.
Fire minister Nick Hurd called the fire a "national tragedy" and said there was "no room for plodding bureaucracy".
The queen says "Prince Philip and I would like to pay tribute to the bravery of firefighters and other emergency services officers who put their own lives at risk to save others".
Survivors, many of whom lost all their belongings in the blaze, spent the night at emergency shelters, as charities and local support groups were flooded with donations of clothes and bedding from shocked Londoners. The London Fire Brigade dispatched at least 40 fire engines, 20 ambulance crews and more than 200 firefighters in an effort to battle the conflagration.
Residents who escaped told how they woke up to the smell of burning and rushed to leave through smoke-filled corridors and stairwells. The building was ablaze - I have truly never seen that in a high-rise building. "I think he might have just had some broken bones and bruises", said and eyewitness.
Questions have been raised about recently-installed cladding contributed to the quick spread of the fire.
'Right now, people want answers and it's absolutely right and that's why I am today ordering a full public inquiry into this disaster, ' said May, who visited the scene on Thursday. "It had completely spread within half an hour".
Mr Gow said, generally, only buildings higher than 25m were required to have sprinklers but "we are looking at ways of extending the use of sprinklers in buildings so they can be used in every building in an economical and effective way".
Downing Street aides said that the goal of Mrs May's visit was to get a briefing from emergency services and ensure that they had the resources they needed.
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