Police are treating a tower-block blaze, which killed six people including a baby and two children, as suspicious.

An investigation is underway to determine the cause of the fire, which swept through the 12-storey-block in South London yesterday afternoon.

Speaking this morning Chief Superintendent Wayne Chance, of London Metropolitan Police, said the cause of the blaze was ‘suspicious’.

The bodies of a four-year-old girl, a woman in her 30s and another adult victim, remain in the building, which is now being treated as crime scene.

A three-week-old baby, a six-year-old boy and a woman later died in hospital after being rescued.

Mr Chance said the victims came from a number of families, but would not be releasing their names until all of their next-of-kin had been notified.

The Met are working with London Fire Brigade on the investigation but warn it could take ‘weeks if not months’ to establish exactly what happened.

Mr Chance said the fire started in a fourth-floor flat at Lakanal House, in Camberwell’s Sceaux Gardens Estate, at around 4.20pm.

Yesterday’s hot weather and fact there were so many open windows in the block, helped the fire spread quickly upwards to the 11th floor, trapping around 30 people.

More than 100 firefighters were called in to tackle the blaze and rescue those inside, while sixteen ambulances stood by.

Twenty people, many of them suffering from smoke inhalation, were taken to three London hospitals — King’s College Hospital, Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital, and Lewisham Hospital.

A firefighter is among those being treated for minor injuries.

London Fire Brigade confirmed investigations have already been carried out at the scene by two specialist teams.

An LFB spokesman said: "They will be working alongside our firefighting crews."

"There are still hotspots in the structure which could reignite if we don't extinguish them properly."

Paul Glenny, a firefighter who fought the blaze, said: “I’ve been in the job for 30 years, and I’ve never seen anything like it. The hot weather and the fact that people’s windows were open made the fire what it was.”

About 150 residents were evacuated from their homes in the surrounding area last night.

Many have been forced to stay with friends and family take shelter in an emergency centre in a nearby church hall set up by Southwark council and the British Red Cross while arrangements were being made to provide additional emergency accommodation in council premises.

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