Death Toll in London Tower Fire Has Risen

58 people now confirmed or presumed dead, but number likely to rise further
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jun 17, 2017 4:24 PM CDT
Death Toll in London Tower Fire Rises to 58
The remains of Grenfell Tower stand in London, Saturday, June 17, 2017. Police Commander Stuart Cundy said Saturday it will take weeks or longer to recover and identify all the dead in the public housing block that was devastated by a fire early Wednesday.    (Kirsty Wigglesworth)

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, the AP reports. 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. He says it will take weeks or longer to recover and identify all the dead at the building. Police have been struggling to come up with an authoritative list of who was in the building when the fire started, making it difficult to determine how many had died. Cundy said there may have been other people in the tower who police are not aware of, and that could increase the death toll. He asked anyone who was in the tower and survived to contact police immediately. (More Grenfell stories.)

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