Lily attacked for death toll claim
POP singer Lily Allen came under attack last night after she accused the media of ‘downplaying’ the tragedy.
Miss Allen, who visited the disaster scene, claimed the death toll was 1 0. Media outlets have worked closely with the Met Police who yesterday stated the number of dead stood at 30.
The figure is likely to rise but emergency services say the block is too dangerous to start identifying victims.
Speaking on Channel 4 News yesterday evening, Miss Allen said: ‘I think what people would really like is a more honest count of how many people have actually died. I have never in my entire life seen an event like this where the death count has been downplayed by the mainstream media.
‘I am hearing from people the figure is much closer to 1 0 – and that many of those people are children. They are offthe-record numbers I have been given from policemen and from firemen.’
Channel 4 news presenter Jon Snow told her: ‘The difficulty is that they have to identify bodies and there can be very little left in this building.’
After the report was broadcast, ITN reporter Julian Druker tweeted Miss Allen and wrote: ‘You probably mean well, but this is just embarrassing. Media deals with confirmed deaths rather than just guessing.’ Journalist Dan O’Donoghue accused Miss Allen – who last year apologised to a migrant in the Calais jungle camp on behalf of Britain – of ‘wildly speculating’.
Commander Stuart Cundy from the Met Police said: ‘It would be deeply distressing for families for us to release wrong information.’