London fire: Baby dropped from 10th floor 'caught by man on ground'

Firefighters in place as they battle a massive fire that raged in a high-rise apartment building in London. Photo / AP

A baby was caught by a member of the public after being dropped from Grenfell Tower as it was engulfed with flames, a witness said.

Samira Lamrani said she saw a woman try to save a baby by dropping it from a window "on the ninth or 10th floor" to waiting members of the public below.

"People were starting to appear at the windows, frantically banging and screaming," she said.

"The windows were slightly ajar, a woman was gesturing that she was about to throw her baby and if somebody could catch her baby.

"Somebody did, a gentleman ran forward and managed to grab the baby."

Smoke billows from a fire that has engulfed the 24-storey Grenfell Tower in west London. Photo / AP

She added: "I could see people from all angles, banging and screaming for help.

"Us members of the public were reassuring them, telling them we've done what we can and that we've phoned 999, but obviously the look on their face was death.

"My daughter's friend said she observed an adult who made some sort of homemade parachute and tried to lower himself out of the window.

"The more I looked up, floor upon floor. Endless numbers of people. Mainly the kids, because obviously their voices, with their high pitched voices - that will remain with me for a long time.

"I could hear them screaming for their lives."

Another resident, called Zara, said she saw a woman throw her son, who was about five years old, from a fifth or sixth floor window to escape the blaze.

She told LBC: "One woman actually threw her son out of the window. I think he's OK.

"I think he might have just had some broken bones and bruises.

"I left my phone at home so I went back to grab it and, by the time I got back, the road was completely blocked off, the fire had dramatically spread.

"It was like a scene from a Hollywood movie."

Asked about which floor the boy was thrown from, she said she thought it was the fifth or even the sixth.

Smoke and flames billow from a massive fire that raged in a 27-floor high-rise apartment building in London. Photo / AP

"There was another woman screaming 'my baby, my baby, I need to get out, I need to save my baby'.

"But we were just looking up. We couldn't do anything. There was nothing we could do."

Another caller, Linda, told the station how she watched huge chunks of polystyrene type material falling from the building.

"It was everywhere, it was like snow," she said. "There were larger sheets and small pieces. It was coming down everywhere."

This article originally appeared on the Daily Telegraph.