Ethiopia Today: The man 'whose faulty fridge started tower inferno': Neighbour reveals how Ethiopian taxi driver raised the alarm when deadly blaze started in his fourth-floor kitchen

Behailu Kebede raised the alarm as the Grenfell Tower inferno began to spread, his neighbours have said
Father of one, a taxi driver from Ethiopia, discovered the fire in his fourth floor kitchen ahead of blaze
Mr Kebede banged on a neighbour's door and alerted her to the fire, potentially saving many lives
Tower block resident Maryam Adam said he knocked on her door to warn her at 12.50am on Tuesday night
At 12.54am, a resident called 999 and the first engines arrived at the scene in west London within six minutes
After 15 minutes, most of the tower was alight, 30 minutes later the building was engulfed in flames

This is the mini-cab driver whose faulty fridge is alleged to have started the Grenfell Tower inferno.

Behailu Kebede, a father of one, raised the alarm after flames took hold in his flat at number 16 on the fourth floor.

Maryann Adam, 41, who lived at number 14, told how Mr Kebede banged on her front door in the early hours of Wednesday to tell her that there was a fire in his kitchen.

She said: 'He knocked on the door, and he said there was a fire in his flat. It was exactly 12.50am because I was sleeping and it woke me up.

'The fire was small in the kitchen. I could see it because the flat door was open. There was no alarm.'

Firefighters were still damping down the building today. It was deemed unsafe for them to enter until experts have assessed it

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

Mr Kebede friend Eshete Meried said the 44-year-old taxi driver originally from Ethiopia, escaped the building - but was still in shock.

Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, Mr Meried said: 'Behailu did raise the alarm, that is what I am hearing.

'He is fine but he is not in a position to talk about anything right now. I understand that he in a temporary shelter, staying with friends.'

Another friend said Mr Kebede had spoken to police who are investigating the fire.

Maryam left her phone with her belongings in her flat and has been unable to check on other residents. She later attended the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital after feeling dizzy, but was given the all-clear.

Speaking today from emergency accommodation close to the scene of the disaster, Mr Kebede told of his distress at witnessing the very beginning of the inferno, which it is feared to claimed more than 100 lives.

He told MailOnline: 'I am very upset'. Asked whether the fire started in his flat by MailOnline Mr Kebede replied: 'I'm busy, I'm busy. Goodbye.'

A Scotland Yard spokesman said today: 'The investigation is ongoing.'

Mr Kebede's identity emerged today as:

The official death toll was raised to 17, but is expected to soar as rescuers piece their way through the ruined flats where more than 400 people were living when the fire ripped through.
Prime Minister Theresa May visited the site and ordered a full public inquiry into the blaze after it was claimed ministers were warned over the cladding suspected to have helped the fire spread.
Two young girls, part of a family of five who lived on the tower's 20th floor, were found by relatives in a London hospital. Their mother, father and six-month-old baby sister are still missing.
Three generations of one family are missing after three girls, a mother and father and grandmother were caught up in the blaze.
Bosses of the company running the building and those who carried out recent refurbishment work were challenged to explain whether new cladding led it to go up 'like a firelighter' in around 15 minutes.
More than £1 million has been raised to help those affected by the fire, while volunteers and charities have helped feed and shelter people who could not return to their homes.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, who live in the London borough, donated to the fund set up to help those affected, and the Queen offered her condolences to victims' families.

Dozens of residents at Grenfell Tower in North Kensington, West London, are feared dead — just a year after a £10million refurbishment of the block that developers said was safe.