DOZENS feared dead as massive blaze 'sparked by faulty fridge' engulfs 27-storey London tower block in just 15 MINUTES: Trapped residents hurl themselves from windows while others make ropes from sheets - amid fears the building will COLLAPSE

Dozens are feared dead today after an inferno believed to have started when a fridge exploded ripped through a 27-storey west London tower block in just 15 minutes. Residents were seen throwing themselves and their children out of windows to avoid being burned to death - others made ropes by tying sheets together as fire engulfed Grenfell Tower in White City at 1am today. The trapped were heard begging for their lives while waving white towels, torches and mobile phones to attract the attention of the 200 firefighters who stormed the building. Those who managed to flee say there was no working fire alarm, sprinklers failed and the only staircase out was blocked. Dany Cotton, Commissioner of the London Fire Brigade, said there had been 'a number of fatalities' and 50 people are in hospital. Desperate survivors being cared for in several west London rescue shelters have seen sobbing as family and loved-ones, including dozens of children, remain unaccounted for.