Singer Rita Ora has expressed her shock at the fire which broke out in "her neighbourhood."

Writing on Instagram, she said: "My prayers are with everybody involved my heart is beating so fast. I used to play in that block - I want to do all I can do to help."

She posted the locations of help points that have been set up to assist those affected.

Dany Cotton, the London fire commissioner, said a number of firefighters have been injured but they are not serious.

She said she expected firefighters to be on the scene for the "next 24 hours" adding when she arrived on the scene there was a "significant fire in progress".

Ms Cotton described the fire as "unprecedented" and will require further investigation.

Image source, EPA

Kensington's newly-elected Labour MP has said the fire has "devastated our community".

Emma Dent Coad said she had visited several support centres set up for those affected by the blaze and would continue to do so throughout the day.

She added: "We have already seen our community coming together in the face of this tragedy.

"Local people have been streaming into support centres with clothes, food and other supplies to help those affected.

"It is at times like these that we see the very best of our community, coming together in the face of such adversity."

Police and Fire Minister Nick Hurd has given a statement on the fire. “My thoughts are with the residents and families of everyone caught up in this dreadful event. London Fire Brigade and the Metropolitan Police have confirmed there have been fatalities and I extend my condolences to their loved ones. “The search and rescue operation is still going on and I wish to commend the brave actions of firefighters and other emergency responders who arrived at the scene within minutes and have been at the scene throughout the night. "I should like to stress that this is an ongoing incident and I would urge anyone in the area to stay away from the scene and follow the directions of the emergency services."

London mayor Sadiq Kahn says that if anyone who lives in Grenfell Tower is safe, they should contact the emergency services so that they can be discounted from any casualties.

Image source, EPA

A member of the public caught a baby which was dropped from a window, a witness says.

Samira Lamrani said she saw a woman gesturing to the crowd below that she was about to drop her baby from "the ninth or 10th floor" of the building.

A man ran forward and managed to catch the baby, she said.

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BBC Minute has complied eyewitness accounts of the "devastating blaze" at the tower block.

A former Labour minister and firefighter has said there must be an investigation into how the Grenfell Tower fire could have happened "in 21st century London".

Jim Fitzpatrick, Labour MP for Poplar and Limehouse, said six people died in a similar tower block fire in 2009.

He said: "How could this possibly have happened in 21st century London, given the events of 2009 in Southwark, and why did it happen again, and how can we stop it recurring?"

The Salvation Army has arrived in the area to help support emergency services.

The charity says its emergency response van will remain in the neighbourhood to offer support to emergency service crews and help members of the public looking for places of rest and safety.

Its members are also coordinating donations of food and refreshments for emergency services, as well as donations of items such as toiletries for use by the rest centres.

Sadiq Khan says he will ask the questions residents have been raising after the blaze tore through the 24-storey block of flats.

Here's more on the numbers of people injured in the fire:

• London Ambulance Service says there are 74 patients (64 taken to hospital by ambulance, 10 walk ins) with 20 in a critical condition
• NHS England says there are six dead
• The hospitals involved are: St Mary's - 16 patients, three of whom are critical
• Charing Cross Hospital - four patients, none critical
• Royal Free - 13 admissions
• St Thomas' - four patients have been treated in A&E, one of whom has been admitted for further treatment
• Chelsea and Westminster - 25 admissions
• King's College Hospital - 12 admissions

Met Police Commander Stuart Cundy says police and the emergency services are "still in emergency response mode".

He said the investigation into how the fire started was at a "very, very early stage".

He also said specialist investigators from the Met were working with the London Fire Brigade to work out what happened.

BBC Radio 5 live

Image source, Lucy Grey

Grenfell Tower resident Sajad lives on the 3rd floor of the block with his mum, who is disabled. She called him to tell him to come home, saying there was a fire.

“I asked the firefighters where my mum was, and fortunately she was just there," he told BBC Radio 5 live. "She’s okay now, but she had a panic attack and was about to lose her breath, I had to shout out so loud for firefighters to give oxygen.”

Sajad says he knows people who are missing: “It really hurts, it’s actually too much to take in."

Geoff Wilkinson, a fire and building inspector, told the BBC that one of his "major concerns" would be that smoke seems to have spread into escape routes. He also said the system of fire alarms in tower blocks was not exactly as might be assumed.

"The way these buildings work isn't for everyone to escape. With a single staircase, the intention is that the fire is contained within the individual apartment.

"So you don't have to have everyone escaping all at one point. What will happen is the fire service will arrive, they'll take command of it, and they will make a decision as to which floors should evacuate."

The London Evening Standard, the capital's free daily paper, has launched an emergency fund for the Grenfell Tower residents, editor George Osborne says.

He tweeted the paper's front page and cartoon from today's edition.

Geoff Wilkinson, a fire and building inspector, told the BBC that the Grenfell Tower block "didn't perform in the way you'd expect a building to perform" once it caught fire.

"If there is a fire in any of these buildings, you'd expect it to be contained to an individual apartment. You wouldn't expect it to spread in anything like the way, and certainly not in the time that we've actually seen here.

"Something has gone dramatically wrong here."

BBC Radio 5 live

Image source, Getty Images

Former Mayor of London Ken Livingstone has called for tower blocks to be "re-examined" to check they are "fit for purpose", in the light of the Grenfell Tower fire.

Speaking to Emma Barnett on BBC Radio 5 live Daily, Mr Livingstone said: "50 years on it's a very different world… we need very much tougher regulation."

He added that although fires in the tower blocks were "still a very rare risk," it could be necessary in "a few years time" for the buildings to be "demolished and replaced by something more modern".

The former Labour mayor also called for a "complete reassessment" of the advice given to residents in case of a fire. "Being told, 'stay in the building and you'll be rescued' - I'm not certain that's a good idea at all. I think you need to ensure that, if possible, people get out," he said.

Here's a map showing the area around Grenfell Tower in north Kensington.

According to the industry publication Construction Enquirer, external, the company that carried out the cladding work on Grenfell Tower went into administration shortly after completing the work.

Harley Curtain Wall carried out the £3m project in 2015.

Tasha, who has lived in the area all her life, has been telling BBC News the impact the fire has had on her.

"The smell, the smell, the fumes, I have the worst headache I've ever had. It's just the plastic burning isn't it, it's the plastic. It's not a good feeling and it's not a good environment to be in.

"And so people are angry and people want answers, and there were many warnings, people raised their concerns and nothing was done about it."