PAWith hundreds praising the heroic emergency servicemen and women who risked their lives to help people trapped as a fire ripped through a flat block in London – others are spreading lies.
Emergency services were called to Grenfell Tower in Shepherd’s Bush at 12.54am, with the first fire engines arriving on the scene in under six minutes.
More than 200 firefighters and officers attended the fire with 40 fire engines and a range of specialist vehicles being dispatched to get the fire under control.
According to The Mirror, at 4.12am one person wrote on Twitter:
WHERE ARE THE FIREFIGHTERS? THAT THE F*** IS TAKING SO LONG!? Fire getting out of control, people still trapped in Grenfell Tower, Latimer Road.
Another added:
One woman said it took them 2 hours to arrive when their station is 2 block away.
The woman who shared the false information on Twitter seemingly might not even live in London.
Another wrote:
The firefighters were about 1 hour and 45 minutes too late.
GettyIt remains unclear whether these people have read these lies online, or they are trying to discredit the emergency services.
On the reverse side of things, there were plenty more people and celebrities praising the ‘hero’ firefighters and emergency services…
https://twitter.com/search?q=hero&src=typd
#GrenfellTower spare a moment to think about these selfless hero's who have walked up 20 floors in an towering inferno in full apparatus ?? pic.twitter.com/6VZ5vHVUKG
— David-Webb (@AndyGaveUs) June 14, 2017
#firefighters heroes #GrenfellTower #London #londonfire #GrenfellFire pic.twitter.com/xx3Dj5ya8q
— Casual Mind (@CasualMind_) June 14, 2017
London Ambulance Service have confirmed more than 50 people have been taken to five hospitals across the capital – and 12 people are confirmed to have died, with that toll expected to rise.
A number of JustGiving pages have been set up to raise money for those affected in the tragedy.
Nick Paget-Brown, of Kensington and Chelsea council, said there would need to be an ‘investigation into the cause of the fire and why it spread so rapidly’.
PAA group called the Grenfell Action Group repeatedly criticised the company that manages the tower block, Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO), on it’s fire safety record in a series of blog posts.
The group made frequent complaints about rubbish blocking exits and in November last year one member wrote that it would take a ‘catastrophic event’ to expose the issues residents had.
Police have told people who are concerned for friends and families that may have been in the building to call the Casualty Bureau on 0800 0961 233.
