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Met commander hopes Grenfell Tower death toll will not hit triple figures
Anger rises around Grenfell Tower as people ask for help and information
(about 7 hours later)
The search for dozens of people missing since the Grenfell Tower inferno continues into its third day as a police commander expressed hope the death toll would not hit triple figures.
The level of anger on the streets around the decimated Grenfell Tower has been rising as desperate people with missing loved ones plead for more help from the authorities.
About 60 people are reportedly unaccounted for since the blaze, which police fear was so devastating that some victims may never be identified. Six bodies have been recovered from the gutted 24-storey tower so far and 11 have been located inside but cannot yet be removed, bringing the confirmed death toll to 17.
The Queen and Duke of Cambridge were confronted by the screaming friend of a missing family as they left a makeshift relief facility at the Westway sports centre, while Andrea Leadsom, the leader of the House of Commons and a former candidate for the Tory leadership, was challenged by angry west London residents.
The official figure has sparked anger and confusion within the local community, where people believe the true number of fatalities is considerably higher. The severity of the damaged caused by the blaze has restricted the emergency services’ efforts to find and identify victims.
But the frustration being vented at the government and council was paired with the moving efforts of the local community to mount a support operation for the bereaved and the displaced.
A growing number of families are now desperately appealing for news about missing loved ones, and the streets around the high-rise block in north Kensington are plastered with posters begging for information about those who were in the building.
Among the devastated relatives outside Grenfell Tower was Sawsan Choucair, who was missing six members of her family who all lived on the 22nd floor.
More appeals were put up overnight on Thursday as relatives became increasingly distraught. One area near the police cordon around the tower features about 15 posters pleading for information.
At a tribute wall bearing thousands of written messages at Latymer community church, talking to as many reporters as she could, Choucair said she was devastated and was desperate for information from the authorities, which she said had been lacking if not non-existent.
One read: “Since a deadly fire broke out in their home in Latimer, no one has heard from 16-year-old Nurhuda El-Wahabi, 21-year-old Yasmin El-Wahabi and their family. They live on the 21st floor. Please spread this round and keep a look out for their family.”
She was missing her mother, Sirria; her sister, Nadir; her brother-in-law, Bassem; and her nieces Mirena, 14, Fatima, 11, and Zienab, three.
Another asked for information about “Amal and daughter” with a photo of a young woman with curly dark hair and a little girl. A whole family was reported missing on one poster, which said: “The Choucair family is missing in the Grenfell Tower fire. They lived on the 22nd floor.”
Choucair lived in the tower on a lower floor but was at a friend’s home when the fire broke out. “I was panicking, shaking, when I found out,” she said.
The family was named as mother, Nadia Choucair, and daughters Mierna, 13, Fatima, 11, and Zeinab, three.
“We don’t have any information. No one is giving us information. We all need people to inform us. We’re just hoping we get information. The only people helping are the media who are interviewing me. I’m not here to blame anyone; my main concern is my family.”
“Fathia Alsanonse MISSING. People still can’t get through to her. Please keep an eye out,” another said, next to a picture of a smiling woman.
Choucair was remarkably composed for someone facing the worst possible scenario. “I still have some hope,” she said.
One simply said: “Missing: Marjorie Vital” with a picture of a woman in a white hat. There are fears that the death toll could rise dramatically as firefighters continue to search the building.
Posters of her missing loved ones were among 20 being plastered on the church and other key venues around the cordon – from the Notting Hill Methodist church to the Pig and Whistle pub and the bus stops and phone boxes in between.
Smoke could be seen billowing from the charred remains on Thursday and pockets of flames were still burning on Friday morning.
Less than a quarter of a mile from the church, there were emotionally charged scenes as the Queen and Duke of Cambridge visited the Westway sports centre.
Police launched a criminal inquiry into the fire as it emerged that cladding panels similar to those likely to have been used on the 24-storey building have been widely prohibited on tall buildings in the US since 2012.
Stood beneath the rumbling Westway flyover, the pair spoke to firefighters and police officers who had responded to the inferno, and were met with a spontaneous round of applause from onlookers. But when the clapping died down, a distraught man beckoned them to come over.
Under the US building code, the use of metal composite panels without a fire-retardant core has been banned since 2012 on buildings over 50ft (15 metres) tall in various circumstances. Restaurants, care homes, hospitals and concert halls are all prohibited from using the material.
“Please come here,” he implored. Clutching a missing poster for two children, Firdaws and Yahya, Rami Mohamed said he was a friend of their family.
Experts have also said sprinklers could have been fitted in the tower for £200,000, but Nick Paget-Brown, the Tory leader of Kensington and Chelsea council, said there was not a “collective view” among residents in favour of installing them.
The Queen climbed into a Range Rover as Prince William apologised and pledged to come back to the Westway centre, which is operating as a relief centre for displaced evacuees and family members of the missing.
One of the first victims was named as 23-year-old Syrian refugee Mohammed Alhajali, and the Syria Solidarity campaign director, Kareen El Beyrouty, has launched a campaign to raise money for his funeral.
Mohamed said he was frustrated that so many people had turned out for the monarch but he felt that his friends were being left behind.
The appeal said: “Mohammed Alhajali undertook a dangerous journey to flee war in Syria, only to meet death here in the UK, in his own home. His dream was to be able to go back home one day and rebuild Syria.”
The Queen and William spent about 30 minutes in the centre visiting people affected, the day after Theresa May chose not to visit the area over security concerns.
Thirty people remain in hospital, 15 of whom are critically ill.
Earlier on Friday, Leadsom was heckled by residents when she arrived in the area.
The Metropolitan police commander Stuart Cundy responded to speculation that the number of dead could exceed 100 by saying: “From a personal perspective, I really hope it isn’t.
One resident said: “Why has Sadiq Khan [the London mayor] and [Jeremy] Corbyn come down here, not with bodyguards and police, they have come down here and spoken to people and come down to our level. Why is Theresa May coming here with a load of police walking around her, not meeting anyone, not meeting the families?”
“For those of us that have been down there it’s pretty emotional, so I hope it is not triple figures, but I can’t be drawn on the numbers,” he said, his voice cracking.
Leadsom attempted to calm the residents. “I have come down here as leader of the House of Commons. I have had some discussions with residents today. It is devastating, absolutely devastating, and I do sense the anger, and I am completely sympathetic. I utterly understand it.”
His words came as:
The official death toll has risen to 30, and there are reportedly as many as 70 people unaccounted for since the blaze. Police fear some victims may never be identified.
London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, was heckled by an angry crowd as he passed through the west London neighbourhood, with some demanding to know how he planned to handle the crisis.
The official toll has sparked anger and confusion within the local community, where people believe the true number of fatalities is considerably higher. The severity of the damage caused by the blaze has restricted the emergency services’ efforts to find and identify victims.
Among the appeal posters, one read: “Since a deadly fire broke out in their home in Latimer, no one has heard from 16-year-old Nurhuda El-Wahabi, 21-year-old Yasmin El-Wahabi and their family. They live on the 21st floor. Please spread this round and keep a look out for their family.”
Council chiefs pledged to carry out extra fire safety checks at some high-rise tower blocks across London amid concerns more buildings could be at risk.
Another said: “Fathia Alsanonse MISSING. People still can’t get through to her. Please keep an eye out.”
The Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who met displaced families, suggested the government should take over luxury properties lying empty in Kensington and use them to house the Grenfell Tower residents.
One simply said: “Missing: Marjorie Vital,” with a picture of a woman in a white hat.
The prime minister, Theresa May, came under fire for opting not to meet displaced families at community centres on a visit to the scene on Thursday.
More than £31m has been raised to help people affected by the fire, and one local mosque alone has collected more than 60 tonnes of donations.
An emergency government funding scheme was launched to help meet the costs of the disaster as individual charity donations rocketed.
Production lines of volunteers emerged from the Notting Hill methodist church on Friday carrying hundreds of boxes from the church to a lorry parked outside, while at Latymer, a similar operation was under way.
A rally was organised to be held on Friday evening in Westminster calling for justice for those caught up in the fire.
Emergency services were gearing up for a third day picking through the charred shell of the tower in search of bodies. Teams were forced to leave the building on Thursday afternoon when the fire restarted, delaying efforts to reach upper floors where some victims are thought to have been trapped.
Cundy said: “It may be, and I just don’t know, it may be that ultimately some victims remain unidentified. I won’t know that until we’ve gone through the full recovery from Grenfell Tower and we know exactly what we’ve got, and I anticipate that is going to take a considerable period of time.
“Not just the immediate recovery of the bodies we have found but the full search of that whole building, we could be talking weeks, we could be talking months. It is a very long process. There is a risk that sadly we may not be able to identify everybody.”
May ordered a full public inquiry into the disaster in response to mounting anger that the fire might have been preventable. Scotland Yard also confirmed on Thursday that it had launched a criminal investigation.
It followed calls for those involved in the building’s recent renovation, which many claim posed a major safety risk, to face prosecution.
“We as the police have started an investigation. I mentioned when I was down at the scene this morning that one of our very senior investigating officers is leading that for us,” the commander said. “We as the police, we investigate criminal offences. I am not sitting here and saying there are criminal offences that have been committed, that’s why you do an investigation, to establish it.”
The police’s casualty bureau was said to have received 5,000 calls during the chaotic first day of the investigation. About 400 people were reported missing, but Cundy downplayed the figure, saying it added up to more people than actually lived in the block. One person was reported missing 46 times, he added.
More than £31m has been raised to help those affected by the fire, and one local mosque has collected more than 60 tonnes of donations. Many of those affected told the public they did not require any more donations after hundreds of people dropped off supplies.
Police urged anyone still concerned about a missing loved one to visit the reception area at the Westway sports centre, west London, or ring the casualty bureau on 0800 0961 233.
Those who reported a friend or relative as missing but have since been reunited with them were also asked to get in touch with police.
