A MALAYSIAN family was among those evacuated in the fire which destroyed the Grenfell Tower block of flats in West London yesterday, The Star Online reports.

Zeferi Mohamad Zaidel, 38, his wife and two children, managed to rush to safety but are unsure about the fate of their home.

Residents are still not allowed to return to the mostly gutted building.

The fire at the 24-storey block in North Kensington district is believed to have started because of a faulty fridge on the third or fourth floor of the building.

The fire engulfed almost the entire building in just half an hour.

At least 12 people have been reported killed and 78 injured.

A lot of the rescue and door-knocking work in the early morning when the fire broke out was done by Muslims in the area who were awake preparing for sahur.

The Independent newspaper quoted one Andre Busso, 33, who said that Muslims played a big part in getting the people out of the burning building.

Grenfell Tower is one of the many highrise council housing buildings in North Kensington.

It was built in 1974 and had just been through a major refurbishment including the introduction of the exterior cladding that some tenants now allege was the cause of the fire spreading so quickly upwards and sideways. – June 15, 2017.