The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Police fear they will never be able to identify some of the victims
It will be months before the final roll call of victims is established, Ms McCormack said.
Pressed on whether the death toll could climb to triple figures, Ms McCormack said: “I’ve said I believe it could increase, I don’t think it’s going to be triple, no.”
A six-month-old baby was among the latest victims to be identified, found dead in her mother’s arms in the smoke-filled stairwell.
As the vast criminal investigation into the fire continues, 60 organisations have been identified as having a hand in the tower’s refurbishment, which is suspected to have aided the spread of the blaze. Prime Minister Theresa May confirmed yesterday 120 tower blocks across 37 local authority areas have flammable cladding on their exterior. Ms McCormack said: “We are many months from being able to provide a number which we believe accurately represents the total loss of life inside Grenfell Tower.
“What I can say is that we believe that around 80 people are either dead or sadly missing and I must presume that they are dead.”
The 23 flats which were said to have no survivors were spread between the 11th floor and the 23rd.
Around 10 flats remain too perilous for police to venture into for thorough examination.
Despite the painstaking recovery process, optimism that remains of all victims would be recovered from the building is beginning to ebb away.
Ms McCormack said: “We are working very hard to identity everyone who died in the fire, but the tragic reality is that due to the intense heat of the fire, there are some people we may never identify.”