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Rabat – Moroccans are likely to be among the fatalities of the blaze that broke out in a block of flats in west London on Wednesday morning, sources based in London told Morocco World News, without specifically revealing the number of cases.
“I had a lot of friends in that area during high school. I know that area of North Kensington well. It’s full of British Moroccans. The scary and heartbreaking thing is the death toll will rise a lot,” said Abul-Hasanat Siddique, a British journalist and managing editor of Fair Observer.
Speaking to Sky News, Rashida, a local resident, said that “there is a very high population of Moroccans, and for some reason we all live site close to each other. Literally everyone knows each other.”
“Most Muslims now observing Ramadan will normally not go to be until about 2am maybe 2.30am, she said. “Until they have their late night last meal. They do their last prayer,” she added.
Rashida continued, explaining that “most of the families around here would have been awake and I think even with the noise with the helicopters, it would have brought a lot of attention to a lot of residents non-Muslim as well that would have thought something’s going on that’s not quite normal.”
Two hundred firefighters were sent in a desperate bid to free trapped residents, Express.co reported.
BBC News has listed the names of the people who are unaccounted for based on posts from their relatives who took to social media to appeal for information.
At least 12 people were reportedly confirmed dead and 78 others were injured, according to the Police. They added that the death toll is expected to increase, saying they could not supply the number of people who remain unaccounted for.
All 78 people have been treated in six hospitals – St Mary’s, Chelsea and Westminster, Royal Free, St Thomas’, Charing Cross Hospital and King’s College Hospital, according to the London Ambulance Service.
