Baby tossed from 10th-story window during London fire caught by man

The day following a massive fire that tore through a 24-story building in west London’s North Kensington district, killing a dozen and injuring more than 70 people, Toronto officials say strict building codes and inspections should prevent similar infernos here at home.

Firefighters continued to search the building for survivors.

London Fire Brigade Commissioner Dany Cotton there had been “a number of fatalities” but she could not confirm how many.

The anger was particularly strong since activists had warned just seven months ago that fire safety procedures were so lax that only a catastrophic blaze would bring the scrutiny needed to make the building safe.

“Some of them have been refurbished, some haven’t, and we have an ageing population”.

Adi Estu, 32, who lives nearby and took refuge in a church with her husband and nine-month-old son, said: “I saw people flashing their lights for help, families flashing their mobile phones like a torch”.

Residents at Grenfell Tower have reported that the building’s fire alarm didn’t ring and say they have been warning about the risk of fire at the high-rise since 2013. It’s also not clear whether people are trapped.

The blaze first broke out at 1:16 a.m. Wednesday.

Former head of the Grenfell Tower Resident’s Association Damian Collins said the local council had dismissed complaints about a recent $14.6 million refurbishment.

“As is the case with any major incident, we – along with our partners – will review processes and systems but until the results of investigations into Grenfell Tower fire are available we can not speculate on the potential cause or causes”.

London Fire Brigade said the cause of the fire was still being investigated.

The exterior of the 1970s-built tower was modernised with cladding and replacement windows, while additional homes were added using vacant space in the building.

Alice, a London resident who lives nearby, told The Guardian that she saw one person jump from the building while it was in flames.

“It’s really important that their questions are answered”.

Another fire safety expert, Angus Law from the University of Edinburgh, told the press that reports of the Grenfell Tower bore “similarities with other fires that have occurred recently around the world”. Firefighting crews were still trying to douse flames as they sought to reach the top floors of the building over 10 hours after the fire started.

But this fire seemed to tear up the building from the outside, gutting the outer apartments and blackening most of the facade.

Residents who escaped spoke of others trapped and screaming for help, with some holding children from windows and others jumping from upper floors. When no one came to help, she chose to escape on her own.

Labour MP Jim Fitzpatrick – chairman of the all-party Parliamentary Fire Safety and Rescue Group – said the Government has resisted calls to install sprinkler systems in high-rise blocks in the wake of the Lakanal House tragedy.

In current design practice, some buildings even include special design measures for fires, such as refuge rooms for occupants in the higher storeys, who could have trouble escaping down stairs.

Rania Ibrham, 30, could be heard begging for help as her frantic neighbours try to flee through smoke-filled corridors.

Other building products were being imported to Australia that did not conform with local standards, the senator said.