Police believe 255 escaped Grenfell
POLICE have revealed that 255 people escaped Grenfell Tower on the night of the fire, dismissing conspiracy theories about the number who perished in the inferno.
Scotland Yard officers said they still believed that around 80 people are dead or missing, despite suggestions from some independent experts that the death toll could be over 100.
The “Stay Put” advice given to residents will be examined by the criminal investigation into the fire, along with the cladding and fire exits, detectives said yesterday. Metropolitan Police Commander Stuart Cundy said: “We have identified over 60 companies and organisations that have had some involvement in either the construction, management or refurbishment of Grenfell Tower.”
He said they had taken hundreds of thousands of documents, seized thousands of hours of CCTV footage and has begun interviewing hundreds of people about the blaze.
According to investigating officers speaking at a briefing yesterday, 32 victims have been positively identified, with 55 post-mortem examinations having taken place. Some bodies may never be identified due to the extent of the fire, detectives said, adding that the investigation is the biggest the Metropolitan Police has conducted outside of counter-terrorism operations.
Investigations have so far revealed that 350 people should have been in the Kensington tower on the night June 14, but police believe that 14 residents were not in the building.
Tenants illegally subletting flats in Grenfell Tower have been urged to come forward to allow emergency services to establish the true death toll from the blaze. The Government has said no one from the block would face charges for illegally renting out their flats. The Home Office has already said it would not conduct immigration checks on survivors and those coming forward with information.
Officers have spoken to residents from 106 of the 129 flats in Grenfell Tower and have not been able to speak to anyone from the remaining 23.
Mr Cundy said the investigation would look at all kinds of potential offences, ranging from the most serious, manslaughter and corporate manslaughter, down to more low-level crimes. He said: “We believe that around 80 people lost their lives as a result of the fire, that quite frankly, should not have happened
“You can’t listen to the families and to the 999 calls and not want to hold people to account for a fire that should not have happened.”
The first phase of recovery involving dogs and bringing out identifiable body parts ended last week.
Detectives have consulted experts from Austria about technology that could be used to the help identify victims, and spoken to experts who were, and still are, involved in identifying victims of the 9/11 attacks in New York.