The number of people confirmed dead after a devastating Blaze tore through Grenfell Tower has risen to 79, but police warn the official death toll could rise to more than 100.
Firefighters have been scouring the top floors of the building – where the blaze is said to have originated – but have struggled to identify bodies amid the blackened wreckage.
Fifty-eight of the 500 residents who lived in the social housing block, which was managed by Kensington and Chelsea Council, are still missing.
Metropolitan Police Commander Stuart Cundy identified five victims of the blaze on Monday but warned of the difficulties officers face in identifying bodies charred beyond recognition.
He said: "I'm afraid to say there are now 79 people that we believe are either dead or missing and I sadly have to presume they're dead. Of that 79, we have formally identified five people".
However, Mr Cundy went on to describe the search operation as "hugely complex" and said: "The awful reality is, as I've said before, is that due to the intensity of the fire and the devastation within Grenfell Tower, we may not be able to identify everybody that died."
Five individuals have been identified
The five victims officers were able to identify include Anthony Disson, 65, Ya-Haddy Sisi Saye, Abufars Ibrahim, 39, Khadija Saye, 24, and a 52-year-old woman whose family did not wish for her name to be released.
Syrian refugee Mohammad Alhajali, 23, who was a civil engineering student at the University of West London, was named over the weekend, the first victim of the blaze to be formally identified.
Despite the struggles fire fighters face in their efforts to identify victims of the North Kensington blaze, Mr Cundy insisted that the search operation will go on.
Mr Cundy described the aftermath of the fire as "an incredibly distressing time for families" and emphasised that the search operation will be carried out "as quickly as we possibly can."
London grapples with the aftermath
Prime Minister Theresa May has pledged that the government will provide £5,500 to families affected by the blaze to assist them in rebuilding their lives.
Mr Cundy’s announcement coincided with the police releasing images showing the charred wreckage inside the tower, which show flats reduced to ash and rubble.
A minute’s silence was held across Britain at 11 am Monday to commemorate the victims of the tragedy.
The tower, which was rapidly engulfed in flames due to the use of flammable cladding, is now the scene of a criminal investigation involving 250 investigators.
