couldn't come down," she said.

People at the scene spoke of being unable to reach friends or family inside the building or seeing people using flashlights and mobile phones to try to signal for help from the building's higher floors.

Nassima Boutrig, who lives opposite the building, said she was awakened by sirens and smoke so thick that it filled her home as well.

"We saw the people screaming," she said. "A lot of people said 'Help! Help! Help!' The fire brigade could only help downstairs. It was fire up, up, up. They couldn't stop the fire."

The disaster occurred 10 days after a terror attack at London's Borough Market. Some residents initially feared the fire was also terror-related, although authorities discounted that possibility.

Edward Daffarn, a 55-year-old who lived on the building's16th floor, said the fire alarm didn't ring. Daffarn said residents had complained for years to Kensington and Chelsea Council about the building's safety, to no avail.

"I'm lucky to be alive. A neighbor's smoke alarm went off and another neighbor phoned and told me to get out," he said. "I consider this mass murder."

The Grenfell Action Group, a community organization formed to oppose a nearby redevelopment project, has been warning about the risk of fire at Grenfell Tower since 2013. The group has raised concerns about testing and maintenance of firefighting equipment and blocked emergency access to the site.

In a blog on Nov. 20, the activist group predicted that only "a catastrophic event" leading to "serious loss of life" would bring the outside scrutiny needed to make conditions