Death toll could be triple figures with some never being identified

Police officer chokes back emotion as he reveals the challenges of recovering bodies from the building

THE death toll in the Grenfell Tower disaster could top 100, it is feared, as police admit some of the victims may never be identified.

So far 17 people have been confirmed dead, but senior officers have said they expect the figure to rise dramatically.

Metropolitan police commander Stuart Cundy said it was far too early to speculate on what the final death toll would be, but added: “From my personal perspective I really hope it is not triple figures.”

Six bodies have been found on the ground outside the 24-storey building, while another 11 victims have been located inside.

But the perilous state of the still smouldering structure has hampered the internal search, and police have admitted it could be many weeks before all 120 flats have been searched.

The intensity of the blaze also meant some of those who died might never be formally identified because of the “significant damage” caused to the bodies, police said.

Det Supt Fiona Mccormack said officers would initially use dental records, fingerprints and DNA to work out who the victims were.

But she conceded that with many of the residents of Grenfell Tower coming from overseas – some of them as refugees – official records might not be readily available and formal identification might not always be possible.

Mr Cundy said: “The identification is going to be very challenging. It may be that ultimately victims remain unidentified. There is a risk we that we may not be able to identify everyone.”

Police have now launched a criminal investigation into the cause of the fire amid increasing pressure that those involved in the building’s recent redevelopment should face prosecution.

Mr Cundy said: “This will need to be a lot of work between us and other investigating agencies to establish what has happened and why, and that is going to take a considerable period of time.”

While some of the flats on the lower floors of the building have already been searched by fire officers and police specialists with dogs, many of the higher dwellings remain too unsafe.

Mr Cundy said: “The recovery of victims from inside the building is enormously challenging, but it is our absolute priority above everything else to recover and identify the victims and let the families know.

“It is important to be frank – fires are still breaking out and conditions are very difficult and hazardous for the emergency services in the upper levels of the building.

“We can only recover bodies when it is safe to do so and that will take some time in the days and weeks to come.

“We have experts from urban search and rescue and the London Fire Brigade carrying out this process.

“I do not expect there to be any survivors in that building.”

He said it was proving difficult to establish how many people were still missing because the casualty bureau had been inundated with more than 5,000 calls from concerned friends and relatives. At least 400 people have been reported missing, with police receiving 46 separate calls about one man alone.

Mr Cundy’s voice cracked as he spoke to reporters about the emotional toll the disaster had taken on him.

“The scale of what we have seen at Grenfell Tower is just a human tragedy,” he said. “My thoughts go out to all those who were affected by it, those who have lost loved ones, those in a critical condition in hospital. This is a human tragedy.”