UPDATE 2 - London fire death toll climbs up to 17

UPDATES WITH IDENTIFICATION OF FIRST FATALITY; EDITS THROUGHOUT

By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal

LONDON (AA) - A young Syrian refugee has been identified as the first victim of the huge fire which gutted an apartment block in London earlier this week.

Twenty-three-year-old Mohammad Alhajali had been living in the 24-story Grenfell Tower building in west London.

A co-founder of the Syria Solidarity Campaign, Abdulaziz Almashi, confirmed the news on Thursday, saying Alhajali had worked for the organization.

Alhajali had been an engineering student at the University of West London.

The number of confirmed fatalities from Wednesday’s inferno is now 17, British police have said.

This number is likely to rise still further, Metropolitan Police Commander Stuart Cundy warned.

Prime Minister Theresa May visited the scene of the deadly blaze on Thursday, promising a full investigation into the catastrophe.

May later ordered a public inquiry into the incident.

“Right now people want answers and it is absolutely right. That’s why I am today ordering a full public inquiry into this disaster,” she said in a statement.

“We need to know what happened. We need to have an explanation of this; we owe that to the families, to the people who have lost loved ones, friends and the homes in which they lived,” she added.

‘Unprecedented’

The remains of a number of people are still inside the ruins of Grenfell Tower, in north Kensington. The chances of finding anyone alive are now very slim, according to the emergency services.

Thirty-seven people are still receiving treatment in hospitals across London, with 17 remaining in a critical condition.

Describing the fire that started around 1 a.m. local time Wednesday as "an unprecedented incident," London Fire Commissioner Dany Cotton said: "In my 29 years of being a firefighter, I have never ever seen anything on this scale."

The fire rapidly spread around the building, trapping most of the residents who lived on its upper floors.

Many people from the lower floors had a chance to escape the inferno, including some who were alerted by Muslim residents who were awake for their early-morning suhoor dinner – a meal eaten before fasting during the holy month of Ramadan.

Tariq Gotteeh, a resident of the block, said he was one of the first who had noticed the fire.

He said: "I was up for the suhoor. I was taking the rubbish out. I felt a strange smell... I checked around and saw the flames."

Meanwhile, the only Turkish family living in Grenfell Tower escaped with minor injuries and are now receiving medical treatment.

The Turkish embassy in London said Consul-General Cinar Ergin had visited Sener and Hanife Macit, who are receiving treatment at the Royal Free Hospital in north London.

Approximately 600 people lived in Grenfell Tower’s 120 apartments.