London - The death toll from a fire that
ravaged a London tower block last week has risen to 79, police
said on Monday, as the government tried to show it was improving
its handling of a tragedy that has angered the public.
Fire broke out in the 24-storey Grenfell Tower, a social
housing block in Kensington, west London, in the early hours of
Wednesday, trapping residents inside as it tore through the
building with terrifying speed.
"I believe there are 79 people that are either dead, or
missing, and sadly I have to presume are dead," Metropolitan
Police Commander Stuart Cundy told reporters.
He said five of the dead had been formally identified, and
it would be a slow and painstaking task to identify the others.
Because of the intensity of the blaze, some may never be
identified.
A minute's silence was held across Britain at 1000 GMT to
honour the victims of the fire - a painfully familiar ritual
after the country has been hit by three deadly attacks by
Islamist extremists in London and Manchester since March.
At an improvised memorial wall covered in messages of grief
and solidarity close to Grenfell Tower, firefighters and members
of the local community stood together, some crying, as they
observed the minute's silence.
One firefighter, in his black protective suit with FIRE
emblazoned in yellow on the back, embraced a distraught woman
who had photos of a missing person printed on her top.
A red t-shirt with the London Fire Brigade's logo had been
placed by the memorial wall, with the name of a nearby fire
station and the words "We tried, we're sorry" scrawled on it.
Briefing reporters at police headquarters, Cundy became
visibly upset as he described conditions in the charred tower,
where a search and recovery operation is expected to last weeks.
"I was in there myself and went all the way to the top floor
and it is incredibly hard," he said, before pausing as tears
welled up in his eyes.
"It is incredibly hard to describe the devastation in some
parts of the building," he continued, his voice breaking.
"Not good enough"
The fire has come at a particularly difficult time for Prime
Minister Theresa May, who was weakened by the loss of her
parliamentary majority in a June 8 election and faces arduous
talks on Britain's exit from the European Union.
Emergency services have been widely praised for their
response to the fire, but the local community has accused the
government of a slow and inadequate reaction. May has come under
personal attack for failing to meet residents during her first
visit to the site.
At a daily briefing with reporters, May's spokeswoman said
that on a second visit to the area, during which the prime
minister was booed and heckled, May had listened carefully to
the experiences of those on the ground.
"That's why she totally accepted that it (the government
response) hadn't been good enough. She understood that immediate
action needed to be taken to speed things up, and that's what
she's done," the spokeswoman said.
She said the terms of reference of a public inquiry into the
blaze were being drafted, and the government had now contacted
all local authorities in England asking them to identify any
safety concerns in light of the tragedy.
However, May did not support a proposal put forward by
Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the opposition Labour Party, to seize
unoccupied properties to re-house survivors of the fire, the
spokeswoman said.
"Occupy it, compulsory purchase it, requisition it – there’s
a lot of things you can do," Corbyn said on Sunday during an
interview on ITV.
"Why this happened"
Grenfell Tower is located in a pocket of social deprivation
within the borough of Kensington and Chelsea, one of Britain's
wealthiest areas. The fire has led to national soul-searching
about inequalities and neglect of the poor.
Cundy said a criminal investigation into the tower blaze
would be exhaustive. He said 250 investigators were looking at
all criminal offences that may have been committed.
"Whilst it will look at the how, perhaps more importantly,
it will also look at why this happened," Cundy said.
The investigation will include areas such as the
construction, renovation and maintenance of the building and
fire safety procedures, he said.
Cundy said five people who had been reported as missing in
the fire had now been found and were safe and well.
He said the death toll of 79 could still change if anyone
reported as missing was found alive, of if anyone was found in
the ruined tower who had not been reported as missing.
"Whilst I've said I think there may be changes, I don't
think those changes will be as significant as the changes we've
seen over the last few days," he said.
The death toll was first given as 12, before being revised
up to 17, then 30, then 58.