Survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire fled an inquiry into the disaster today after footage of the blaze was played without warning.

Many members of the audience left the room in distress after a video was played on a screen, showing the North Kensington block in flames.

Some of those affected by the tragedy could be seen burying their faces in their hands, before people began leaving the room in tears.

Their cries could be heard from the hallway after they rushed outside. 

One person collapsed outside the hearing, as a “medical emergency” was declared.

Counsel to the probe, Bernard Richmond QC, said: “Somebody has collapsed outside and is being dealt with.”

The first footage shown in the short film was of debris falling from the tower captured on a mobile phone.

The video was then paused while a technical issue with lighting was addressed.

Shortly after, the online livestream of the hearing was suspended for half an hour.

Upon resuming the hearing, it was confirmed that the film had subsequently been “placed in such a way as to avoid images” of Grenfell Tower ablaze.

Richmond conceded that a warning should have been read out before the footage was played.

“I’m sorry about that interruption,” Inquiry Chair Sir Martin Moore-Bick said.

The rest of the film contained testimony from survivors and loved ones of those who died.

Moore-Bick was criticised in March for advising survivors to “stay where you are” during a fire alert at another chamber.

The Grenfell Tower Inquiry was officially launched at the Millennium Gloucester Hotel, central London, on Monday. Hundreds were injured and 72 people died when the residential tower caught fire in the early hours of 14 June.