Armenian family survives London high-rise fire

(Today.com) – An Armenian family has survived the fire at Grenfell Tower in London.

“The building caught fire like a candle,” said Mesrob Kassemdjian, who was up watching a movie when he heard sirens approaching the building.

“We looked outside and saw the fire trucks, got spooked. I went outside to check the lifts and check for activity. It seemed quiet but I could smell the smoke,” he told TODAY.

Kassemdjian said he noticed smoke coming from the floors below.

“I looked out the window, I could see the flames coming out from underneath really rapidly and we tried to get out of there,” he said.

Authorities have confirmed at least 79 deaths and many  injured. More than 250 firefighters attended to the building, which Kassemdjian said lacked an integrated fire-alarm system.

Kassemdjian and his girlfriend awoke his aunt and headed to the stairwell, alerting his neighbors along the way.

“We were able to move with kind of some order but right behind us, apparently chaos broke out,” he said of the few minutes it took to reach outside. “I feel like we were just minutes away from real disaster, because my aunt is an elderly lady and she needed the time to get down.”