Police: 58 confirmed or presumed dead

London police on Saturday raised to 58 the number of deaths either confirmed or presumed following the horrific inferno that turned the city’s Grenfell Tower public housing block into a charred hulk.

Public anger is mounting as residents and neighbors demand answers for how the blaze early Wednesday spread so quickly and trapped so many of the tower’s 600-odd residents. British media have reported that contractors installed a cheaper, less flame-resistant type of exterior paneling on the 24-story tower in a renovation that was completed just last year.

Police Commander Stuart Cundy said the number of 58 is based on reports from the public and may rise. It includes 30 deaths that already have been confirmed, and reports of people who are missing and presumed to have been killed.

“Sadly, at this time there are 58 people who we have been told were in the Grenfell Tower on the night that are missing. Sadly, I have to assume that they are dead.”