[WATCH] Fire engulfs London apartment block, at least six dead, more than 50 injured

At least six people have died and more than 50 are being treated in hospital after a huge fire engulfed a tower block in west London in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Flames raced through the 24-floor Grenfell Tower block of apartments in the north Kensington area after taking hold around 1:00am. The fire rapidly engulfed the full height of the high-rise, and was still burning strongly more than six hours later, with a thick pall of dark smoke visible across the capital.

More than 200 firefighters, backed up by 40 fire engines, fought for hours to try to bring the blaze, one of the biggest seen in central London in recent years, under control.

In late morning, London police said six people had been killed and the death toll was likely to rise.

London Fire Brigade said the fire had engulfed all floors from the second to the top.

The London fire commissioner, Dany Cotton, had earlier confirmed there had been fatalities as a result of the “unprecedented” fire.

“In my 29 years of being a firefighter I have never ever seen anything of this scale,” she said. “This is a major fire that has affected all floors of this 24-storey building, from the second floor upwards.”

She later said that firefighters had rescued “large numbers of people from inside the building across a range of different floors”, and had spoken to rescuers who had made it as far as the 19th and 20th floors.

Fire-fighting crews still had to reach the top four floors of the building where several hundred people live in 130 apartments.

London Ambulance said 30 people are receiving hospital treatment

The London ambulance service said it had taken 64 people to six London hospitals, 20 of whom were in critical care. A further 10 people took themselves to hospital.

The 1970s building underwent a £10 million (€11.35 million) refurbishment that was completed last year, when it was fitted with a new communal heating system, double glazing and exterior cladding.

The cause of the fire was not immediately known.