After the horrendous fire that swept
Grenfell Tower in west London, it has emerged that notices in the block
instructed people to "stay put". Why is that advice given?
Fire action notices in the tower advised that unless the fire was in or affecting their flat, they should remain in their homes.
Guidance
issued to tenants in a newsletter said: "Our longstanding 'stay put
policy' stays in force unless you are told otherwise. This means that
(unless there is a fire in your flat or in the hallway outside your
flat) you should stay inside your flat."
This is fairly standard advice for people living in purpose-built blocks of flats
In their general advice, the London Fire Brigade says if a fire
breaks out in a block of flats, people living in the block - whose flats
are not affected by the smoke or fire - are "usually safer" staying in
their homes. Elfyn Edwards, a fire safety expert and former
firefighter, says the stay put policy is designed to stop residents in
flats unaffected by fire from unnecessarily evacuating the building and
blocking the stairways. The key factor is how a fire spreads. The
principles of fire safety in the UK are based on a fire being able to
be contained. Usually the way tower blocks are designed means a fire
breaking out in one flat should not spread throughout the rest of a
building. Each flat is designed to be separate and able to contain a fire. Latest updates as fire rips through tower block
But, Mr Edwards said, the Grenfell Tower blaze - because of the
speed at which the fire had engulfed the block - was unprecedented. 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." Fire safety expert Graham Fieldhouse said a "stay put policy" did not mean residents must remain in all situations. "There are questions about the stay put policy and people's understanding of the policy," he said. "If you're affected by fire or smoke, get out." As an example, guidance issued by Harlow council, in Essex, says: "If you are in doubt - get out." Image copyrightPA
The Local Government Association, which represents councils,
reiterates that message in its 2012 guidance, which says a stay put
policy does not imply those who wish to leave a building should be
prevented from doing so if they feel "threatened". One resident
of Grenfell Tower, Michael Paramasivan, said that he had been told in
the case of fire he must stay in his flat - advice he ignored. "If we had stayed in that flat, we would have perished," he said. This is not the first time the advice to stay put has been called into question. In 2009, six people died after a fire broke out in Lakanal House, a tower block in Camberwell, south-east London. But,
in a report following the 2009 tragedy, the chief fire and rescue
adviser, Sir Ken Knight, said the spread of that fire had been unusual. He said a full understanding of how it had spread was needed to make sure the "stay put" principle was still sound. Along with many others, that question may now be asked again.
President Trump described the attack as a "very, very brutal assault".
"We
may have our differences, but we do well in times like these to
remember that everyone who serves in our nation's capital is here
because, above all, they love our country," he added.
He also called Mr Scalise - who was shot in the hip and is in a critical condition after surgery - a "patriot and a fighter".
What we know about suspect
James T Hodgkinson is a 66-year-old man from Belleville, Illinois
His wife told ABC News he moved to Virginia two months ago
His Facebook account shows anti-Republican and anti-Trump rhetoric
He volunteered on the campaign of former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders
He had a string of criminal convictions, including traffic violations and allegations of violence
The
lawmakers were practising for the annual congressional ballgame that
organisers vowed would go ahead as planned on Thursday at Nationals
Park, home of Major League Baseball team the Washington Nationals.
Alexandria
police said the FBI was taking over the investigation into the
shooting, which began shortly after 07:00 (11:00 GMT) on Wednesday
morning at Eugene Simpson Stadium Park.
Sitting ducks'
As
well as Mr Scalise, two police officers, Krystal Griner and David
Bailey, lobbyist Matt Mika and Zack Barth, a congressional aide for
Texas lawmaker Roger Williams, were injured.
Mr Barth, a former
staffer for two Republican congressmen, was shot in the chest, according
to witness Arizona Senator Jeff Flake.
Mr Flake told reporters he was at bat during the shooting and the victims were "sitting ducks".
Senator
Mike Lee, a Utah Republican, said someone at the baseball field had
used a belt as a tourniquet on Mr Scalise, who is the number three House
Republican.
Kentucky Senator Rand Paul told Fox News: "I do believe without the Capitol Hill police it would have been a massacre.
"We had no defence at all. The field was basically a killing field."
He said they were lucky that Mr Scalise was present because he has a security detail owing to his congressional seniority.
Mo
Brooks, an Alabama Republican, told CNN he was on third base during the
baseball game when he saw Mr Scalise, who was on second base, shot.
He said Mr Scalise had a bullet hole in his leg, but was saying: "I'm OK, I'm OK."
Mr Brooks said everyone on the field scattered as 50 to 100 shots were fired.
He said a gunfight had ensued between the shooter and the congressmen's police security detail, who were armed with pistols.
Mr
Brooks, who took refuge behind a batting cage, said the gunman was
armed with a rifle and was "blasting away" from behind the dugout.
Mr
Brooks said congressmen Chuck Fleischmann, of Tennessee, Ron DeSantis,
of Florida, and Jeff Duncan, of South Carolina, were among 15-25 other
lawmakers at the game.
Asked by a CNN host if the attack was deliberate, Mr Brooks replied: "Well, it sure as heck wasn't an accident!
He was going after elected officials, congressmen."
Mr Brooks continued: "The only weapon I had was a baseball bat and that's not the kind of fight you want to engage in."
Ohio congressman Brad Wenstrup, who served in Iraq as a combat surgeon from 2005-06, provided medical care at the scene.
He said the attack had lasted for at least 10 minutes, adding: "He had a lot of ammo."
Alexandria Police Chief Michael Brown said his officers had responded and engaged the shooter within three minutes.
The
last member of Congress to be targeted by a gunman was Democrat
Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head as she met constituents in
Tucson, Arizona, in January 2011. She survived, but six others died in
that incident. Image copyrightReutersImage caption
House Majority Whip Steve Scalise was elected to Congress in 2008
Ms Giffords said in a statement: "This shooting is an attack on all who serve and on all who participate in our democracy."
The
top Republican in the House of Representatives, Speaker Paul Ryan, was
applauded on the chamber floor as he said: "We are united... an attack
on one of us is an attack on all of us." BBC NEWS
UN war crimes investigators say
US-led coalition air strikes on Islamic State militants in the Syrian
city of Raqqa are causing "staggering loss of life".
Hundreds of
civilians are reported to have been killed since March, as coalition
warplanes support an offensive by a Kurdish-led alliance.
In the past week, Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters have pushed into the west, east and north of Raqqa.
The battle for the city has also led to 160,000 civilians fleeing their homes.
The coalition has said the capture of Raqqa will deliver a
"decisive blow" to the caliphate proclaimed by IS in June 2014, months
after it took control or the city.
Up to 4,000 militants are believed to be holed up inside Raqqa, including foreign fighters and various senior figures.
It
is unclear how many civilians are trapped there with them, but UN
officials estimated that there are between 50,000 and 100,000.
In an address to the UN Human Rights Council on Wednesday, the
chairman of the independent commission of inquiry for Syria noted that
IS had been losing territory at a rapid pace in the north and centre of
the country over the past few months.
If successful, Paolo
Pinheiro said, the SDF offensive on Raqqa "could liberate the city's
civilian population from the group's oppressive clutches, including
Yazidi women and girls, whom the group has kept sexually enslaved for
almost three years as part of an ongoing and unaddressed genocide".
But he added that the offensive must not be "undertaken at the
expense of civilians who unwillingly find themselves living in areas
where [IS] is present".
"We note in particular that the
intensification of air strikes, which have paved the ground for an SDF
advance in Raqqa, has resulted not only in staggering loss of civilian
life, but has also led to 160,000 civilians fleeing their homes and
becoming internally displaced."
The UK-based monitoring group Airwars estimates that more than 600 civilians were killed in more than 150 coalition or SDF attacks between March and May.
Air and artillery strikes killed dozens more in the first eight days of June, it says.
The UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs warned on Thursday that the assault was intensifying an "already desperate" situation in Raqqa.
Air
strikes, shelling and clashes on the ground were killing and injuring
civilians, and damaging key infrastructure, it said. There were also
reports of increased shortages of essential commodities such as food,
medicine and fuel, it added.
Separately, Human Rights Watch warned
that the coalition's use of artillery-delivered white phosphorus in
Raqqa and in the last remaining IS-held parts of the northern Iraqi city
of Mosul was endangering civilians. White phosphorus can be used
for several purposes on the battlefield - as a smoke screen, for
signalling and marking, and as an incendiary weapon. However,
international law prohibits its use in civilian areas because of its
indiscriminate effects. On contact, it can burn people, thermally and
chemically, down to the bone. "No matter how white phosphorus is
used, it poses a high risk of horrific and long-lasting harm," warned
Steve Goose, arms director at Human Rights Watch.
The head of Chinese insurance and financial giant Anbang is reported to have been detained by the authorities.
The company, one of the country's richest and most powerful, said Wu Xiaohui was stepping aside as chairman.
It gave few details but said he was no longer able to fulfil his duties for "personal reasons".
Chinese business magazine Caijing had reported that Mr Wu was detained by authorities last week, but later deleted its article.
An
official source told the BBC that Mr Wu had been taken away from the
Anbang Office Building on 8 June by police who arrived in two cars.
It is not clear where Mr Wu is now.
If
Mr Wu's detention is confirmed by the authorities, he would be the
highest-profile target of the government's attempt to re-establish state
control of the financial industry, and target corruption.
1.95bn Acquisition of New York's Waldorf Astoria Hotel
Reuters
The company, which manages some 1.65tn yuan (£190bn; $242bn) worth of
assets, said in a statement that the chairman's duties would be managed
by other senior executives.
Anbang did not comment on the report by Caijing that he had been detained.
Earlier, Anbang had denied a report by the Financial Times that Mr Wu had been stopped from travelling abroad.
Is Anbang what it seems? Analysis by Celia Hatton, BBC News
In
the past few years, high-level officials have often been detained for
corruption in China. Found guilty of taking bribes, they're handed
lengthy prison sentences and ushered out of public view.
The Wu Xiaohui case is very different.
Mr
Wu masterminded the explosive rise of his company in just over a decade
by selling relatively risky investment products - not traditional
insurance policies. Still smarting about the collapse of Shanghai's
stock market in 2012, Chinese regulators had warned about Anbang's
"wealth management products".
Another respected magazine, Caixin, published unusually frank exposes on Anbang in April. Like the New York Times
before it, Caixin probed Anbang's murky ownership structure and whether
it had enough money in the bank to carry out large overseas
acquisitions.
The articles addressed some of the greatest
mysteries swirling around China: who really owns Anbang and who made way
for its almost impossible rise from a tiny car insurance company to a
global behemoth?
If Wu Xiaohui and Anbang aren't what they seem,
the entire Chinese economy, including many ordinary people with Anbang
products, could be in for a fall.
The possible deal had raised media speculation over a potential conflict of interest and was called off by "mutual agreement" without any reasons given.
Wu
Xiaohui had long been considered one of the most politically connected
men in China, having married the granddaughter of former leader Deng
Xiaoping.
His company has in recent years been among the biggest
players of Chinese firms pursuing high-profile overseas acquisitions and
investments.
In 2016, Anbang paid private equity firm Blackstone
$6.5bn for the ownership of Strategic Hotels & Resorts, a portfolio
of upmarket hotels and resorts.
That purchase added 16 luxury
properties across the US to Anbang's holdings, including the
Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay, and the Four Seasons hotels in Silicon
Valley and Washington.
It was meant to be an interview to promote a book.
But Mia Freedman's podcast chat with feminist author Roxane Gay has been overshadowed by the words used to trail it online.
Ms
Freedman wrote about wondering whether Ms Gay would "fit in to the
office lift" and searching for a chair "sturdy enough to hold her
weight".
Ms Gay called the words "cruel and humiliating". Ms Freedman apologised, saying she was "beyond mortified".
Ms
Gay's book Hunger recounts her life as a "woman of size", as she puts
it - she is 6ft 3in (1.91m) tall and, at her heaviest, weighed 41 stone
(262kg).
Subtitled A Memoir of (My) Body, it tells how the author
began overeating after suffering serious sexual violence as a child, and
how her size makes the world more difficult to navigate - from deciding
whether to book one or two airplane seats to dealing with the reactions
of other people.
"Fat bodies tend to be public property", she writes, saying strangers are quick to offer her advice on losing weight.
"People
are quick to offer statistics and information about the dangers of
obesity, as if you are not only fat but incredibly stupid, unaware, and
delusional about your body and a world that is vigorously inhospitable
to that body."
While promoting the book in Australia, Ms Gay spoke to Ms Freedman for her women's website Mamamia.
"A
lot of planning has to go in to a visit from best-selling author,
college professor and writer Roxane Gray," the podcast description
started.
"Will she fit into the office lift? How many steps will she have to take to get to the interview?"
It continued: "None of this is disclosed with a mean spirit, it's part of what Roxane writes about in her new book Hunger."
Image copyright@courtney_ro
But in response, Ms Gay tweeted that she was "appalled", that the
words were "cruel and humiliating", the situation was "disgusting and
shameful".
"I can walk a f***ing mile," she wrote.
Later, she wrote about her reaction to media attention being wrested away from the launch of the book.
The podcast description was changed online and Ms Freedman published a long statement apologising and saying the experience had been an "extraordinarily searing lesson". "This
is not my story to tell and I should not have included it in the intro
to the podcast or the podcast description. It was disrespectful and it
upset her and for that I am deeply, deeply sorry. Unconditionally sorry. "I
am beyond mortified, horrified and ashamed that I could have, in any
way contributed to Roxane Gay feeling anything other than fierce,
brilliant and beautiful." The fallout has been covered in several media outlets around the world, and the Sydney Morning Herald published a piece saying it might harm Mamamia's plans to expand its readership in the US.
A top congressman was among five
people wounded as a gunman sprayed bullets at Republican lawmakers
during baseball practice in a Washington DC suburb.
House of
Representatives Majority Whip Steve Scalise was expected to survive
after the early morning attack at a park in Alexandria, Virginia.
Two police officers suffered non-life threatening bullet wounds as they fired back at the attacker.
Police said the gunman was among five people taken to hospital.
Alexandria police tweeted: "Suspect is in custody and not a threat."
The
lawmakers were practising for the annual congressional ballgame
scheduled to be played on Thursday at Nationals Park, home of Major
League Baseball team the Washington Nationals.
Alexandria police
said the FBI was taking over the investigation into the shooting, which
began shortly after 07:00 (11:00 GMT) on Wednesday morning at Eugene
Simpson Stadium Park.
'Killing field'
President Donald Trump said in a statement: "We are deeply saddened by this tragedy.
"Our
thoughts and prayers are with the members of Congress, their staffs,
Capitol Police, first responders, and all others affected."
Who is Steve Scalise?
House Majority Whip, the number three Republican in Congress, responsible for vote gathering
Elected to Congress in 2008 having previously served in the Louisiana state legislature
He apologised for speaking to a white supremacist group during a campaign event in 2002
Former leader of the ultraconservative Republican Study Group, which clashed frequently with party leadership
He married his wife Jennifer in 2005 and they have two young children. They live in Jefferson, Louisiana
Mr Scalise was shot in the hip was said to be in a stable condition and "good spirits" as he was taken for surgery.
Senator Mike Lee, a Utah Republican, said someone had used a belt as a tourniquet on Mr Scalise.
Texas
congressman Roger Williams' office said he himself was not shot, though
one of his staff, legislative correspondent Zack Barth, was wounded in
the attack.
Kentucky Senator Rand Paul told Fox News: "I do believe without the Capitol Hill police it would have been a massacre.
"We had no defence at all. The field was basically a killing field."
He said they were lucky that Mr Scalise was present because he has a security detail owing to his congressional seniority.
Mo
Brooks, an Alabama Republican, told CNN he was on third base during the
baseball game when he saw Mr Scalise, who was on second base, shot.
He said Mr Scalise had a bullet hole in his leg, but was saying: "I'm OK, I'm OK."
Mr Brooks said everyone on the field scattered as 50 to 100 shots were fired.
He said a gunfight had ensued between the shooter and the congressmen's police security detail, who were armed with pistols.
Mr Brooks said the gunman was armed with a rifle and was "blasting away" from behind the dugout, using it for protection.
The
congressman, who said he took refuge behind a batting cage, described
the attacker as a middle-aged white male, "a little on the chubby side".
Mr
Brooks said congressmen Chuck Fleischmann, of Tennessee, Ron DeSantis,
of Florida, and Jeff Duncan, of South Carolina, were among 15-25
lawmakers at the game.
Asked by a CNN host if the attack was deliberate, Mr Brooks replied: "Well, it sure as heck wasn't an accident!
"He was going after elected officials, congressmen."
Mr Brooks continued: "The only weapon I had was a baseball bat and that's not the kind of fight you want to engage in."
Ohio congressman Brad Wenstrup, who served in Iraq as a combat surgeon from 2005-06, provided medical care at the scene.
He told CNN the shooter eventually resorted to a pistol, having apparently used up all his rifle ammunition.
'A lot of ammo'
Arizona Senator Jeff Flake told reporters he was at bat during the shooting and the victims were "sitting ducks".
He said the attack had lasted for at least 10 minutes, adding: "He had a lot of ammo."
Mr
Flake added: "There are two of his [Mr Scalise's security] detail were
shot, one African-American gentleman shot in the leg and I believe he's
the one that brought the shooter down.
"He ran around for quite a while with a leg wound, returning fire."
Alexandria Police Chief Michael Brown said his officers had responded and engaged the shooter within three minutes.
The last member of Congress to be targeted by a gunman was Democrat
Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head as she met constituents in
Tucson, Arizona, in January 2011. She survived, but six others died in
that incident.
Ms Giffords tweeted on Wednesday: "My heart is
with my former colleagues, their families & staff, and the US
Capitol Police- public servants and heroes today and every day."
The top Republican in the House of Representatives, Speaker Paul
Ryan, said "the hearts of the whole House" were with the victims.
One eyewitness was outraged that the gunman should have targeted a game known as the nation's pastime.
Noah Nathan told NBC News: "Baseball is America's game! You don't mess with baseball."
At least six people have died after a
huge fire raged through the night at a west London 24-storey tower
block, and police expect that number to rise.
Eyewitnesses
described people trapped in the burning Grenfell Tower, in north
Kensington, screaming for help and yelling for their children to be
saved.
Firefighters, who rescued many people, were called at 00:54 BST and are still trying to put out the fire.
Police say there may still be people in the building who are unaccounted for.
During
the night, eyewitnesses said they saw lights - thought to be mobile
phones or torches - flashing at the top of the block of flats, and
trapped residents coming to their windows - some holding children.
It
is understood that "several hundred" people would have been in the
block when the fire broke out shortly after midnight, most of them
sleeping.
Commander
Stuart Cundy, of the Metropolitan Police, said the recovery operation
would be "complex and lengthy", and the number of fatalities was
expected to rise.
He declined to give any details of the number of people who may be missing.
He
said it was likely to be some time before police could identify the
victims, adding that it was too early to speculate on the cause of the
fire.
An emergency number - 0800 0961 233 - has been set up for anyone concerned about friends or family.
More than 70 people have received treatment in hospital. At least 20 are known to be in a critical condition.
At
13:00 BST, Fire Commissioner Dany Cotton said firefighters expected to
be on the scene for at least another 24 hours and she would not
speculate about the cause of the blaze.
She said there were
concerns that people were still inside the tower and she urged all
residents to make sure they had reported themselves to police so that
the authorities know they are safe.
Prime Minister Theresa May is "deeply saddened by the tragic loss of life", said Downing Street.
Meanwhile,
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is to demand a government statement in
Parliament on Thursday on the tragedy, the BBC understands.
Later,
police and fire minister Nick Hurd will chair a cross-party meeting to
look at how the government can assist the emergency services and local
authorities.
Paul Munakr, who lives on the seventh floor, managed to escape.
"As
I was going down the stairs, there were firefighters, truly amazing
firefighters that were actually going upstairs, to the fire, trying to
get as many people out the building as possible," he told the BBC.
He said he was alerted to the fire not by fire alarms but by people on the street below, shouting "don't jump, don't jump".
Eyewitness
Jody Martin said: "I watched one person falling out, I watched another
woman holding her baby out the window... hearing screams.
"I was
yelling at everyone to get down and they were saying 'We can't leave our
apartments, the smoke is too bad on the corridors.'"
Michael Paramasivan, who lives on the seventh floor with his
girlfriend and young daughter, said he ignored official advice to stay
in your home.
"If we had stayed in that flat, we would've
perished. My gut instinct told me just to get the girls out. I wrapped
the little one up because of the smoke and I just got them out."
Another resident, Zoe, who lives on the fourth floor, said she was woken by a neighbour banging on her door.
"The
whole landing was thick with smoke. The smoke alarms weren't going off
but the way it spread so quickly from the fourth floor, all the way up
to the 23rd floor was scary."
At the scene
By Lucy Manning, BBC News
They have lost their homes and for some, tragically their relatives.
At times there is the sound of sobbing as the word goes round that someone is missing, someone is feared dead.
I've spent the day inside the community centre where survivors have gathered.
Downstairs in the hall families sit at tables and wait for news.
One
family told me they hadn't heard from their brother, sister and three
children - Mirna, Fatima and Zainnb. Other relatives were out searching
hospitals. There was still no news.
Outside the centre, Sawsan was
with a group of women. For one it was too much, she was on the floor
crying. Sawsan hasn't heard from her mum, sister, brother-in-law and
nieces. She spoke to them when the fire started but nothing since.
Inside
the centre, families are being helped with food, housing and medical
treatment. It's busy and everyone is helping. Just not with the one
thing they need - information about whether their relatives are safe.
Christabel told me how lucky her father had been. He tried to fight the fire but made it out alive.
Ed was saved when a friend called him to tell him to get out the building. "I'm lucky" he says. But they have lost everything.
Grenfell
Tower, built in 1974, is part of the Lancaster West Estate, a sprawling
inner-city social housing complex of almost 1,000 homes.
Robert
Black, chief executive of the tower's management company, the Kensington
and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation, said: "The fire at Grenfell
Tower is devastating and the reports of injury and losses of life
absolutely heartbreaking.
"Along with my colleagues, I have been
supporting residents since the early hours, working with the emergency
services and the community."
The BBC's Andy Moore, who was at the
scene through the night, described watching debris falling from the
building, and hearing explosions and breaking glass.
Grenfell Tower, North Kensington
120 flats
24 storeys
20 residential levels
4 community/podium levels
2016 refurbishment completed
The London Fire Brigade said a structural engineer had checked the
building and determined it was not in danger of collapse and that rescue
teams were safe to be inside. Initially, it was feared that the building, which appears to be gutted, could collapse. Mayor Sadiq Khan said he was devastated by the horrific scenes, attended by more than 250 firefighters and 100 ambulance medics. Questions will need to be answered over the safety of tower blocks, he told BBC Radio. "We
can't have a situation where people's safety is put at risk because of
bad advice being given or if it is the case, as has been alleged, of
tower blocks not being properly serviced or maintained," he said. Matt
Wrack, of the Fire Brigades Union said something had clearly gone badly
wrong with fire prevention procedures at the building. Firefighters
would normally fight a fire in a tower block from the inside, going up
the fire escape, and fighting using the internal dry-rising mains, he
said, but that's not been possible in this case. Construction firm
Rydon said recent building work which it carried out on the block "met
all required building control, fire regulation and health and safety
standards".
Appeals are being made on social media for news of missing friends and relatives, who might have been caught in the blaze. Emergency
rest centres have opened for those now homeless at Latymer Community
Centre, St Clement's Church, Harrow Club and Rugby Portobello Trust.
There are also local collections under way for spare clothes, toys,
blankets and toiletries. People are being advised by police to
stay away from the area, where roads remain closed and nearby residents
have been evacuated as a precaution.
