The death toll in a fire that ripped through a 24-storey Grenfell Tower in Kensington of West London has reached 17 as of 11 am Thursday.

According to Met Police Commander Stuart Cundy, 17 people are still in critical condition. Police expect the death toll to further rise as dozens of people trapped inside the building are still missing. Police are searching the dead bodies with trained dogs, it is learnt.

Police say the rescue operations could take weeks.

Officials from Fire Brigade say that the possibility of finding people alive is very minimal and the fire experts have been able to tear through only half of the building till now.

Independent.co.uk reported that the flats were home to between 400 and 600 people. The online portal stated that firefighters have so far rescued 65 people from the building.

UK Prime Minister Theresa May has promised a "proper investigation" after the building went up in flames amid growing concerns about how the blaze could have spread so rapidly, according to the portal.