What time is the Grenfell Tower minute silence held during the Notting Hill Carnival?
VICTIMS of the Grenfell Tower block fire - which at least 80 people are feared to have died in - will be commemorated with a minute's silence at Notting Hill Carnival.
Here, we look at when the minute's silence will be held and the background to the devastating blaze in London.
When is the minute's silence being held?
Revellers will fall silent on August 27 at 3pm at Notting Hill Carnival.
And on August 28 - the second day of the West London event - another silence will be held to remember the victims at 3pm.
Organisers London Notting Hill Carnival Enterprises Trust (LNHCET) say it is out of unity, respect, sorrow and solidarity for, and with, those that died and have been affected by June’s disaster.
It will be followed by the "Bridge Over Troubled Water" charity single recorded for the victims of the tragedy being played.
The route will pass by the gutted remains of Grenfell Tower.
It follows an official minute's silence at 11am on Monday June 19.
All government buildings marked the silence and other organisations also observed the moment of reflection for victims of the disaster.
What happened in the London fire?
A large fire broke out in the building just after 1am on the morning of Wednesday 14 June 2017.
It spread quickly to cover an area from around the second floor to the top floor.
There are 120 homes in the tower block, with at least 350 people thought to be inside when the blaze began. Some were still trapped hours later.
The first victims were named as Syrian refugee Mohammed Al Haj Ali, 23, and 24-year-old Khadija Saye. Dozens of others have since been named as police and fire crews carry out a painstaking recovery operation through thousands of tonnes of debris.
Desperate people trapped inside the large building were heard screaming for help as the fire took hold.
Horrified witnesses said they could see people waving sheets out of the windows as they called to be rescued, with some jumping from the building.
The London Ambulance Service sent 100 medics to the West London tower block.
About 200 firefighters battled the fire, with 40 engines sent to the scene after the emergency services were alerted at 12.54am.
Smoke could be seen filling the sky across West London from miles away hours after the blaze broke out.
Nearby community centres and churches opened up to provide shelter for people evacuated from their homes as firefighters faced the grim task of removing bodies from the gutted tower.
Harrowing footage taken inside Grenfell Tower has since been released showing the charred remains of the building.
The walls of the concrete stairwell where hundreds of residents made a frantic bid to escape as the inferno erupted have been turned black from the blaze.
It was the only exit for those living inside the North Kensington building and many desperate people jumped from windows to avoid being burnt alive.
The chilling video was released as cops revealed the painstaking work they are doing following the carnage to recover bodies.
Where can you drop off food and clothes to help victims?
Londoners can drop off items such as food, blankets, clothes, toiletries to help those people displaced by the tragedy at a number of drop off points, these are:
- The Harrow Club, 187 Freston Road, London, W10 6TH
- Rugby Portobello Trust, 221 Walmer Road, London, W11 4EY
- St Clements Church, 95 Sirdar Road, London, W11 4EQ
- Kensington Town Hall and Malton Hub, 2-4 Malton Road, W10 5UP
HOW YOU CAN DONATE TO HELP THOSE AFFECTED
The Sun pledged £100,000 to the victims of the Grenfell Tower tragedy but they also need your help.
You can make a donation by text.
Text GREN88 and the amount you wish to donate to 70070, eg GREN88 £5.
You can donate £5 or £10.
Why do we hold a minute's silence?
A minute’s silence is a period of time to stop, think and reflect in times of tragedy and prominent deaths.
Sports matches often begin with a minute’s silence, while the tradition is often observed at memorials – as well as in schools and offices – after terror attacks.
It is a show of solidarity in times of national and international atrocities.
The first recorded national silence, lasting two minutes, was held in Britain on Armistice Day in 1919.
It was the first anniversary of the day that World War One ended, November 11.
