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Detectives investigating the fire at Grenfell Tower in London say new footage of the gutted building's burned-out interior shows just how difficult the task of finding and identifying bodies is proving to be.
- The number of people unaccounted for will rise from 58 today, police say
- British police say "the conditions due to the fire damage verge on indescribable"
- Investigators are using dental records, fingerprints, and DNA to identify the dead
The images, captured by a specialist police recovery team working alongside colleagues from the London Ambulance Service and the London Fire Brigade, show homes completely destroyed, with deep layers of ash and charred rubble covering the floors.
"The conditions due to the fire damage verge on indescribable, which is why this will be such a lengthy operation taking weeks to complete," Police Commander Stuart Cundy said.
"It is really important that we are clear about the scale of the challenge facing us as our teams search Grenfell Tower to recover those people still inside and return them to their loved ones."
"Whilst our teams have been from the bottom to the top of the tower, we must now carry out a full forensic and systematic search.
"We must also prepare people for the terrible reality that some people may not be identified due to the intensity of the fire."
Over the last four days, British police have worked hard to try to provide greater clarity on the number of people that are believed to have died in the fire.
But the identification of the victims appears to be proving very difficult, which experts attribute to the extreme heat of the fire.
Police are using the INTERPOL Disaster Victim Identification Standards to identify the dead, relying on dental records, fingerprints and DNA when possible, as well as features like tattoos or scars.
Detectives are focusing on people that they have been told were in the building at the time of the fire but have not been seen since.
Mr Cundy said on Sunday that the death toll of 58 was based on reports from the public — including 30 deaths that already have been confirmed, and reports of people who are missing and presumed to have been killed.
A revised death toll is expected to be released later today.
Investigators have not identified what caused the blaze, but some experts have blamed the flammable cladding on the building's exterior.
The Australian Government has since announced a Senate committee will investigate the use of cladding material on Australian structures in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire.
ABC/wires
Topics: fires, police, death, united-kingdom
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