These first pictures inside the stricken inferno tower reveal the horror residents running for their lives would have been faced with as the fire raged around them.

Blackened hand prints can be seen on the stairwell walls, streams of water are captured flooding the hallways and prized possessions can be seen abandoned on the ground after the desperate scramble for safety.

A video shot by a painter who rushed to Grenfell Tower in White City to help firefighters has revealed the extent of the carnage caused by the blaze in the doomed block of flats, which has so far claimed the lives of at least 17 people.

These first pictures inside the stricken inferno tower reveal the flooding and horror that would have been faced by residents as they scrambled for their lives

Local painter Hassan Kaissi, 42, rushed to the scene after finding out about the fire and found himself helping out firemen.

The father-of-four, who lives a mile from Grenfell Tower, spent five-and-a-half hours helping fire crews and pointing out residents in the building who needed help.

After helping his neighbours, he filmed the video, which starts in the car park of Grenfell Tower where he is greeted with the utter carnage of fallen debris.

The camera pans around to a blown out window which is used to gain access to the building.

Footsteps can be heard as Mr Kaissi wades through the water on the ground floor and a river is seen flooding down the stairs.

After climbing the stairs for a dozen or so steps the camera cuts off and pans to another shot of the ground floor outside Grenfell Tower in an adjacent building.

The crunch of debris under the 42-year-old's boots can be heard as he walks towards the building through the wreckage and fire hoses.

A fire hose on the floor (left) and a table and traffic cone knocked over in the basement

The 27-storey Grenfell building, which was built in 1974 but refurbished last year, has an average of six flats per floor lived in by council tenants and a smaller number of private owners or tenants - fire had largely engulfed it in around 15 minutes

Again the father-of-four walks towards the building and enters the carnage.

Water can be heard pouring from above and chairs, tables and high-visibility jackets can be seen strewn across the floor, which is covered in a couple of inches of water.

How can you donate to help the victims of the Grenfell Tower blaze? Britons have been moved by the terrible events at Grenfell Tower in West London yesterday to the extent that they have donated nearly £2million to fundraising pages. Many have provided clothing, shelter and food to those affected, while others have donated money. Here is how you can do your bit to help: There are two main JustGiving pages that have been set up by Karolina Hanusova and Hayley Yearwood, which have already generated about £1million between them. Chef Jamie Oliver offered free meals at his restaurant at nearby Westfield White City while phone company EE encouraged people to use local stores if they needed to contact anyone. Various other fundraising pages were set up, including the Grenfell Tower Fire Fund was set up by local councillor Eartha Pond. The An Noor Cultural & Community Centre also established the Latimer Road Fire Estate Appeal to help. Another page, the West London Tower Fire Victims, was set up by Muslims. Donations can also be made to the Kensington and Chelsea Foundation's Grenfell Tower Appeal. And an Amazon wishlist called the Grenfell Tower Emergency Relief Appeal was set up to help send supplies to the Rugby Portobello Trust which is helping those affected. Advertisement

The eerie silence is only broken by the sound of Mr Kaissi splashing his way through the water.

As the painter makes his way outside with a friend, he is greeted by the imposing figure of Grenfell Tower on fire.

A firefighter shouts at him, telling him to get inside, and the man calmly explains he has been warned and the two cameramen ease their way back to the door from which they came.

As the camera is pointed skywards, plumes of smoke can be seen billowing from the tower block which is still ablaze.

Hassan Kaissi, 42, rushed to the scene after finding out about the fire and found himself helping out firemen.

The father-of-four, who lives a mile from Grenfell Tower, spent five-and-a-half hours helping fire crews and pointing out residents in the building who needed help.

He said: 'I was breaking my Ramadan fast at about 2.30am when my sister sent me a Whatsapp about the fire.

'I dropped everything and went straight there in my car.

'As I was driving the roads were empty except for a few police cars heading in the same direction.

'When I arrived, I saw a friend of mine by the cordon and had heard that the family of some friends were inside the building.

'I couldn’t live with myself if I didn't do something to help so I decided to climb over the railings.

'I saw the doorway to Grenfell Towers open so I went into the building. People were screaming everywhere.

'I went to climb the stairs but a fireman told me not to, that he’d just have to rescue me too, so I didn’t go in.

'Two minutes later a piece of debris fell exactly where I was standing.'

Dozens, possibly hundreds, of people are feared dead after the devastating blaze ripped through the Grenfell Tower housing block.

Seventy eight people were taken to hospital, with 18 fighting for lives in critical condition, as around 600 residents tried desperately escape the flames that broke out at around 1am on Wednesday.

Firefighters are still working to completely extinguish the smouldering block of flats more than 24 hours after the blaze started, but a picture of the extent of the damage is now beginning to emerge.

Harrowing photographs showing blown out windows, melted kitchen tables and washing machines stopped mid-load were taken this morning in West London capturing how residents abandoned their homes in horror to reach safety.

The debris piled up on top of the fire hose and the stairs which firefighters climb to get higher

The impromptu fireman said: 'There were a lot of families who had been rescued sitting outside, and I was trying to help them.

'All of the firemen were saying that they’d never seen anything like it before.

'It was unbelievable. I was feeling so bad the whole time.'

Hassan adds that he’s never seen community spirit like in the aftermath of the fire.

He said: 'I went to the rugby club afterwards, and there was piles of clothes toiletries and food.

'I’ve never seen so much community spirit.

'I have four children and I couldn’t stop thinking of those innocent kids who have lost their lives.'

A picture is beginning to emerge of the complete devastation left behind by the blazing fire which started in the early hours of yesterday

The mangled wreckage of the raging fire

There were fears the tower block, home to 600 people, would collapse yesterday and smoke can still be seen emanating from the flats today

The burnt out remains of the inside of some of the apartments can be seen the Grenfell Tower block in west London.

Firefighters are now combing their way through the skeleton of the building trying to piece together the chain of events and search for residents.

The tower block, which was wrapped in controversial cladding, has been left charred by the blaze which started around 1am yesterday.

Burnt appliances such as washing machines can be seen abandoned inside the apartments, which are now completely bereft of any of the residents' personal belongings.

Firefighters are now combing their way through the skeleton of the building trying to piece together the chain of events and search for residents.

Nobody left in the London tower block which burned down on Wednesday morning is still alive, fire crews have said.

Rescuers say there are still 'unknown numbers' of people dead inside, but at the moment it is too risky to try to recover them from the upper floors of the fire-ravaged and unstable Grenfell Tower.

London fire chief Dany Cotton told Sky News: 'Tragically now we are not expecting to find anyone else alive. The severity and the heat of the fire would mean it is an absolute miracle for anyone to be left alive.'

Wreckage and debris covers the ground (right) as the firefighter climbs a flight of stairs (left)

Full searches of the upper floors, where no one is said to have survived, are yet to be carried out.

In a separate interview, Ms Cotton told ITV today: 'Some of the internal structures are not regarded as safe at the moment, however the central core is, so my firefighters have been up to the top floor last night, they have done the initial brief search from the doorways.'

'So although we've been up there we haven't managed to do a comprehensive search and until we can make the building safe then I really don't want to risk the safety of my firefighters at this moment in time,' she added.

Ms Cotton said structural surveyors and urban search and rescue specialists would inspect the building on Thursday and once it was declared safe a full search would take place.