“As a council, we will do everything we can to support the residents at this difficult time,

“the 20 residents initially taken to a leisure centre had been moved to a hotel early on Thursday morning.

“The next 20 hours are the most critical to find and rescue people alive,

“rescue teams continue to find signs of people alive under the rubble and are racing to save them

“residents had tried to put the fire out but could not because it had been so severe.

“Even this morning I've had calls asking me can I bring food. Can I bring clothing? Can I bring blankets? So everyone is trying to help as much as they can. It's devastating. The council are co-ordinating what's going to happen next but it's going to be a long-term thing. It's not going to happen overnight. So we are just sending our best wishes to everybody, and hope that they can re-build what they can and get back on their feet.

“The cause of the fire had still to be determined by South Wales Fire and Rescue Service,

“law enforcement detained a Russian woman who was believed to have been involved in the explosion