conditions as they searched the charred wreck.
Smoke was
still wafting out of the shell of the Grenfell Tower on Thursday, and a Reuters
cameraman saw a big piece of building cladding fall from the building.
Fire
engulfed the social housing block in the early hours of Wednesday, turning it
into a flaming torch in minutes.
"Sadly
I can confirm that the number of people that have died is now 17," London
police commander Stuart Cundy told reporters.
He said that
number was expected to rise and firefighters have said they did not expect to
find any more survivors after rescuing 65 from the inferno. Thirty-seven people
remained in hospital, with 17 of them in critical care.
"Our
absolute priority for all of us is identifying and locating those people who
are still missing," Cundy said before declining to comment on speculation
about the likely final death toll: "It would be wrong for me to get into
numbers that I do not believe are accurate."
London Fire
Brigade chief Dany Cotton said urban search units backed by specialist dog
teams would scour the building as structural surveyors helped make the tower
safe.
The cause of
the blaze, the worst in the British capital in a generation, was being
investigated. Speaking within weeks of London's deadliest attack by militants
in more than a decade, Cundy said nothing suggested the fire was linked to
terrorism.
Prime Minister
Theresa May, who has promised an investigation into the disaster, visited the
scene on Thursday to meet members of the emergency services, but left without
making any public comment.
Local
residents say there had been repeated warnings about the safety of the
building, which recently underwent an 8.7 million pound ($11.1 million)
exterior refurbishment, which included new external cladding and windows.
Planning
documents detailing the refurbishment did not refer to a type of fire barrier
that building safety experts said should be used when high-rise blocks are
being re-clad, according to Reuters research.
Queen
Elizabeth said her thoughts and prayers were with those families who had lost
loved ones and with the many people still critically ill in hospital. She also
paid tribute to the bravery of firefighters who risked their lives to save
others.
"It is
also heartening to see the incredible generosity of community volunteers
rallying to help those affected by this terrible event," the queen said.
OUTPOURING
OF SUPPORT
Survivors,
many of whom lost all their belongings in the blaze, spent the night at
emergency shelters, as charities and local support groups were flooded with
donations of clothes and bedding from shocked Londoners.
Piles of
shoes, clothes, duvets and other items accumulated in several spots where
volunteers were sorting them. The local authority, the Royal Borough of
Kensington and Chelsea, thanked donors but said it could not take any further
donations.
The singer
Adele was among many Londoners who gathered close to the burnt tower late on
Wednesday to show sympathy for the victims and survivors.
The queen's
grandsons, Prince William and Prince Harry, along with William's wife Kate,
donated to a relief fund organised by London's local Evening Standard
newspaper.
The fire
brigade said the fire was unprecedented in its scale and the speed of its
spread.
The tower,
built in 1974 in North Kensington, an area of west London, contained 120 flats
and was thought to have been home to about 600 people.
Accounts
emerged of people trapped inside as the blaze destroyed everything around them,
shouting for help and trying to escape through windows using makeshift ropes
from bed sheets tied together.
By Thursday
morning, there was no sign of life in or around the blackened hulk. Security
cordons were in place around the base of the tower and the ground was littered
with charred debris.
Outside the
cordons, impromptu tributes appeared with photos of missing people, messages of
condolences, flowers and candles.
Emergency
services said it was too early to say what had caused the disaster. Some
residents said no alarm had sounded. Others said they had warned repeatedly
about fire safety in the block.
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