Grenfell Tower witness tells of horror scenes including six children screaming for help on the top floor
A WOMAN who “saw 25 people, including trapped children, die before her eyes” as Grenfell Tower was consumed in an inferno has spoken of the devastating scenes.
Anne Johnson was woken by screaming on Wednesday morning and watched in horror as the West London tower block was rapidly engulfed by flames as those trapped cried out from their windows.
She told : “I could see kids on top of the building, about six kids all together along.
“They were crying for help and writing help on the windows.
“Two kids on the right hand side on the corner are screaming – nobody could get to them nobody could help these children on the very, very top.
“I saw that whole building turn black with smoke, with the children still inside, and then you never heard those children again screaming.”
Anne added: “I saw women and men flashing phones, flashing everything their hands, T-shirts, anything to say we’re here.
“Within two-and-a-half hours that building melted in front of my eyes I must have seen over 25 people dying in front of my own eyes.”
Anne was helping at one of the centres set up to support those affected by the fire this morning as the community continues to rally around survivors, those searching for loved ones and the evacuated.
The official death toll stands at 17, but a councillor told Sky News that emergency crews “fear more than 100 people could have died” in the inferno.
London Fire Brigade Commissioner Dany Cotton today said no more survivors are expected to be found.
The devastating inferno has finally been put out by hardworking firefighters toiled through the night but it is too dangerous for them to reach the edges.
Prime Minister Theresa May visited the gutted site today as it was revealed 37 people are still being treated in hospital, with 17 considered critical.
She has announced a public enquiry after witnesses said the building “lit up like matchsticks” as the inferno spread through cladding that had been fitted in 2015 as part of a £9 million refurbishment.
Some of the frantic residents trapped inside the burning building jumped from windows in a bid to escape.
Others threw their children to safety as they desperately tried to avoid being burnt alive.
At least 400 people lived in the 120-flat building, but it is not clear how many were in the tower block at the time of the blaze.