At least six persons died and more than 70 others were injured when a fire engulfed a 24-storey housing block in central London in the early hours on Wednesday, according to Reuters.

The incident occurred at around 1 am today.

More than 200 firefighters, backed up by 40 fire engines, fought for hours to try to bring the blaze, one of the biggest seen in central London in memory, under control.

By mid-day, London police said six people had been killed and they cautioned the death toll was likely to rise.

Police Commander Stuart Cundy said a "recovery operation" could take some time and there could be people in the building who are unaccounted for, though he would not be drawn on a figure.

Fire-fighting crews still had to reach the top four floors of the building where several hundred people live in 130 apartments.

The cause of the fire, which left the tower block a charred, smoking shell, was not immediately known.

The block had recently undergone an 8.7 million pound ($11.08 million) refurbishment of the exterior, which included new external cladding, replacement windows and curtain wall facades.

Plumes of black smoke billowed high into the air over the British capital for hours after the blaze broke out.

Residents rushed to escape through smoke-filled corridors after being woken up by the smell of burning.