Grenfell Tower fire: 255 people believed to have escaped blaze, police say

Police have revealed a faulty fridge freezer ignited cladding and insulation at Grenfell Tower
Jeremy Selwyn
Justin Davenport10 July 2017

Around 255 people escaped the Grenfell Tower inferno, police revealed today.

Scotland Yard said they had estimated that around 350 people should have been living in the tower but about 14 were not at home on the night.

Police still believe around 80 people died in the blaze and 32 people have been positively identified.

However, they believe up to 10 people had also escaped the blaze but, for unknown reasons, have not chosen to come forward and seek help.

Grenfell Tower aftermath - In pictures

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Police say the intensity of the fire means that some victims may never be identified.

Officers are gathering debris from the tower by hand and sifting though the material to look for remains .

Commander Stuart Cundy said police were working to identify people as fast as possible and re-iterated an appeal for people who had fled the fire to come forward.

The home office has announced an amnesty for immigration offences and there will be no prosecution of anyone who sub-letted flats.

Officers say it is becoming increasingly harder to identify victims.

Commander Cundy said there was no evidence to support some theories that as many as 600 people were living in the tower.

It comes after Sadiq Khan ordered an urgent review of equipment for firefighters after claims crews were hampered by shortages while tackling the blaze.

The Mayor pledged firefighters will get “exactly” the equipment they need after firefighters told the BBC they experienced problems with equipment and water pressure, and a high ladder did not appear on the scene until half an hour after the first fire crews were sent.

A total of 73 people had been reported missing.

Police were taking DNA from survivors to identify some of the dead.

Anthropologists and archaeologists have been brought in to help the painstaking search of the 23-storey block which is expected to take until the end of the year to complete.

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