Grenfell: Majority killed in 23 flats
Police say full roll call of victims is still months away
TRAGEDY: The death toll from the Grenfell Tower fire is believed to be around 80 people, with police saying the vast majority of those killed were from just 23 flats.
The Metropolitan Police said yesterday that contact had been made with at least one occupant from 106 of the 129 flats in the building.
THE DEATH toll from the Grenfell Tower fire is believed to be around 80 people, with police saying the vast majority of those killed were from just 23 flats.
Detective Superintendent Fiona McCormack, of the Metropolitan Police, said yesterday that contact had been made with at least one occupant from 106 of the 129 flats in the building.
From those properties, 18 people are dead or assumed dead, meaning the remaining victims are thought to have been in the flats wiped out by the inferno.
She said: “There are 23 flats that despite huge investigative efforts, we have been unable to trace anyone that lives there.
“At this stage we must presume that no-one in those flats survived, that includes anyone who lived there or was visiting them.”
But it will be months before the final roll call of victims is established, Ms McCormack said.
A six-month-old baby was among the latest victims identified, found dead in her mother’s arms in the smoke-filled stairwell of the west London flats.
Westminster Coroner’s Court opened and adjourned inquests into seven victims, including baby Leena Belkadi and her eightyear-old sister Malak.
Efforts to establish who was missing in the wake of the fire were focused on talking to friends, families and neighbours of those in Grenfell Tower, Ms McCormack said.
A list of tenants provided to police by the Kensington and Chelsea Tenants Management Organisation, which managed the building, was “not accurate”, she claimed.
“We are many months from being able to provide a number which we believe accurately represents the total loss of life inside Grenfell Tower.
“Only after we have completed a search and recovery operation, which will take until the end of the year.
“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.”
Pressed on whether the death toll could reach triple figures, Ms McCormack said: “I’ve said I believe it could increase, I don’t think it’s going to be triple, no.”
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.
As the vast criminal investigation into the fire continues, 60 organisations have been identified as having a hand in the tower’s refurbishment.
Meanwhile, tests of cladding samples from other blocks around the country have been continuing amid fears that they could be covered in the same material which is believed to have aided the spread of the Grenfell Tower blaze.
Prime Minister Theresa May confirmed yesterday that 120 tower blocks across 37 local authority areas have been found to have flammable cladding on their exterior to date.
Schools, hospitals and care homes have also been urged to review fire safety procedures.
We must presume that no-one in those flats survived. DeDetective Superintendent Fiona McCormack, of the Metropolitan Police.