Heroic firefighter showered with flaming debris carries on

Fire alarms didn't go off, sprinklers failed and residents were told to 'stay put' inside their flats, survivors of the inferno in the 'third world' tower block said today.

Several people have been confirmed dead and more are missing following the fire at Grenfell Tower in north Kensington overnight, which left a further 50 people in hospital.

Survivors have described how the building's fire alarms were not working at all - and sprinklers also failed.

And it has emerged that the block's residents were told to 'stay put' in their flats in case of the fires, and the only stairwell used in the evacuation may have been blocked.

Residents have said they were only alerted to the fire by neighbours banging on doors or phone calls from people living in the area who saw the tower was alight.

An action group at the west London tower block ravaged by fire have said their warnings fell on 'deaf ears' after highlighting safety concerns about the block.

The cause of the blaze at the Grenfell tower, north Kensington, is not known, but a blog post from the Grenfell Action Group from November 2016 said 'only a catastrophic event' would expose issues residents had.

Several hundred people would have been in the block when the fire was reported at 1.15am on Wednesday, while 30 have been taken to hospital.

The group said there was one entry and exit to Grenfell Tower during improvement works at the block in Latimer Road and it had issues with evacuation procedures at the building.

Following the fire, the group posted: 'All our warnings fell on deaf ears and we predicted that a catastrophe like this was inevitable and just a matter of time.'

The group claimed access to the building was 'severely restricted' for emergency services and other vehicles and that residents were advised to stay in their flats in case of fire.