Theresa May orders public inquiry

Theresa May has ordered a full public inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire that has left at least 17 people dead, with emergency services expecting the death toll to rise.

After visiting teams at the scene of the blaze in west London, the Prime Minister said the move was needed to ensure "this terrible tragedy is properly investigated".

Her announcement came amid calls for corporate manslaughter charges to be brought following the disaster. Specialist urban search and rescue teams are seeking to make the 24-storey tower block in west London safe to allow firefighters and police to carry out investigations.

Search dogs will also be used to help locate the missing in the wreckage following the devastating blaze early on Wednesday. Emergency services have said there are not expecting to find anyone alive.

Meanwhile, Jeremy Corbyn has been seen meeting residents and community leaders at the scene. He said "the truth has got to come out and will come out" as he visited volunteers helping after the Grenfell Tower fire.

"The community needs you," one resident told Corbyn.

He toured the area with the shadow housing minister, John Healey, and the new Labour MP for Kensington, Emma Dent Coad. Earlier Theresa May visited the scene but did not meet residents.

Hundreds of the roughly 500 residents in the block remain unaccounted for. Some have estimated that the death toll could rise above 100 as whole families remain unaccounted for. Meanwhile, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said "the truth has got to come out" as he visited those affected by the blaze.

Fears have been raised that green energy concerns were put before safety as it emerged that cladding used to make the building more efficient could have accelerated the fire, which is thought to have been started by a faulty fridge.

Residents' groups have claimed they raised concerns about the safety of the building, which had been recently refurbished, while those who escaped complained their fire alarms had not been set off by the blaze.

Kensington and Chelsea Council admitted it had received complaints over the works, after a residents' action group said its warnings about safety had fallen on "deaf ears".

Meanwhile, more than £1 million has been raised to help those affected by the blaze, while volunteers and charities helped feed and shelter people who could not return to their homes overnight.

A wall of condolence was put up near the scene with photographs showing dozens of messages left for loved ones.

Theresa May's announcement came just before a demand by mayor of London Sadiq Khan that an inquiry be held. He said the "full scale of the tragedy is becoming clear and there are pressing questions, which demand urgent answers". "That is why I am demanding a full, independent public inquiry into the fire at Grenfell Tower.

In light of concerns about the safety of other tower blocks that have been similarly refurbished, the inquiry needs to produce an interim report by the end of this summer at the latest."

Heroic residents of the Grenfell tower saved their neighbours by banging on their doors and guiding them to safety, it has emerged.

Local community centres and religious buildings have opened to help those who have lost their homes, and left with nothing but their pyjamas.

Some put their own lives at risk to rescue others. Rashida, a local resident, told Sky News how Muslims observing Ramadan may have saved lives in the tower block, as many of them were awake.

She said: "Most Muslims now observing Ramadan will normally not go to bed until about 2am, maybe 2.30am, [when] they have their late night last meal. They do their last prayer.

"So most of the families around here would have been awake and I think even with the noise of the helicopters, it would have brought a lot of attention to a lot of residents, non-Muslim as well, [who] would have thought 'something's going on that's not quite normal.'"

She said: "It's a very diverse area, we have all nationalities, all religions. We all live peacefully amongst each other, there is not much crime - [not] higher than anywhere else. You can walk around safely late at night… we all know each other. There is a very high population of Moroccans, and for some reason we all live close to

each other. Everyone knows each other." The Sikh community in London has opened its doors to survivors of the deadly Grenfell Tower fire that has left hundreds homeless.

Harjinder Kukreja, a community member from a gurdwara at Ealing, said: "Sikh gurdwaras in London have started collecting and distributing spare clothes, toys, toiletries for Grenfell Tower evacuees.