World News for Students of English

19-06-2017 15:00

As families slept, a fire engulfed Grenfell Tower, a 24-storey high apartment tower, in west London in the middle of the night.

People said that the blaze started around 1 a.m. on Wednesday and within two hours, flames and smoke almost consumed all of the building. Forty fire engines and 200 firefighters worked tirelessly to extinguish the fire and rescue the people inside. About 50 people went to hospitals across London and at least six people died in the huge fire.

People built the tower in 1974 and recently had spent millions of pounds on refurbishments. However, residents had raised concerns about fire safety previously. The cause of the fire is being investigated, as well as the stability of the building.

On Friday 16th, protesters chanting ’murderers’ forced their way into Kensington Town Hall and marched through London demanding justice for the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire.

Difficult words: engulf (cover), blaze (a fire), refurbishment (making something become or look like new), chant (repeat rhythmically).

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