17/06/2017 BBC Weekend News

Police say 58 people are now presumed to have died

in the fire at Grenfell Tower in West London.

They've also said that the death toll is again likely to rise.

The BBC understands the total number of dead or missing

Today, Theresa May met victims of the fire at Downing Street

amid criticism of the Government's handling of the tragedy.

This report is from our correspondent Jeremy Cooke.

In the Midsummer heat, Grenfell Tower casts a long shadow. A new

dark reality on the London skyline, with the power to shock, and to

move. A site which stops you in your tracks. Too much to take in. Is hard

to know what to say, yeah. It's just horrific. Everyone's busy talking,

yet you can just feel a silence. It's really overwhelming. Four days

on from the disaster, and with every official update, more grim news.

Sadly at this time there are 58 people who we were told... We have

been told were in Grenfell Tower on the night that are missing and

therefore sadly I have to assure them that they are dead. The

investigations into how this happened will be complex and

lengthy, but the residents' Association for Grenfell Tower and

the surrounding blocks is already calling for the Council and its

management agency to be suspended from their landlords'

responsibility. Andrea Newton says the community felt ignored before

the tragedy, neglected since, with no access to basic information.

Where is everyone? What are they getting next, where will they move,

what do they need? Who needs what and where? Fundamental questions and

we are days after this disaster. I have done the angry. I just have to

get this done. Today the residents brought those frustrations to

Downing Street, asking for more help on the ground. And there have been

reassurances from ministers. There is now from today on the ground a

central operation precisely to answer all those, you know,

perfectly reasonable questions people have in these desperate

circumstances. It perfectly clear message, but still, on the street,

official help has been hard to find. What we are seeing here is an aid

effort run by local people. We are told there will be a more official

response to what has happened, but on the ground there is very little

evidence of that. Amanda, you are doing all you can. Have you seen any

Government people, local council people? No, I haven't. I haven't

seen anyone at all. We have been here since the morning and have not

seen anyone from the Government. Winners the Government? I personally

don't know. The only Government or cancel because I have seen or the

rescues lorries, coming up and down the street.

# We shall overcome... #. The pain here is plain to see, and

the community strength to, to come together and to overcome. Jeremy

cooks, BBC News, North Kensington. What more have we learned

from the police this afternoon, Ben? Well, they told us 16 bodies have

been recovered so far from the block, but clearly there are many

more inside, and they are seeing how difficult and dangerous the work is

there, to search for bodies and recover them they had actually

stopped that work yesterday afternoon it was so dangerous and

could only resume it at lunchtime today. They are saying that whole

process of bringing out bodies could take weeks or even longer, and to

try to explain why, they will release some images tomorrow, some

videos from inside, just to show families and the community here her

difficult and dangerous it is. Also, they just don't know exactly how

many people were in the block at the time and they are appealing for

anyone who was inside there, or perhaps was not registered to live

there, who has escaped but has not been in touch with the police, to

get in touch with them as soon as possible. Ben, thank you very much.

Our political correspondent Alex Forsyth is in Downing

Some residents have met with the feminist this evening and we have

now had a statement from Downing Street? That's right, just in the

last few minutes, and the Prime Minister said the reason she wanted

to meet those residents was to reassure them the Government was

doing everything possible, but in that statement Theresa May admitted

the basic help and information on the ground was not good enough. She

has announced a series of actions she said will immediately rectify

that and that includes the distribution of a ?5 million

emergency fund for food and clothing starting today, a renewed commitment

to get everybody rehoused within three weeks, and she says she

herself will get daily updates as on the progress of that. More staff

wearing hi viz jackets will be deployed on the ground to offer

advice to those who need it, and extra phone lines and hotlines as

well for the Council. Theresa May says the ongoing public inquiry

which will start, the judge to be named in the next few days, and she

says she will take personal responsibility for implement

whatever the recommendations are. She has been criticised for her

response. She is now trying to get back on the front foot. Alex, thank

you. The Queen has observed a minute's

silence at the Trooping the Colour parade in memory of all those

who died in Grenfell Tower and in the recent bombings

in Manchester and London. Earlier, she issued

an unprecedented statement - on what is her official birthday -

in which she said it was "difficult to escape the very

sombre national mood." Our royal correspondent,

Nicholas Witchell, reports. On a day intended for celebration,

the Queen led the nation in sorrow. Before leaving Buckingham Palace

for Horse Guards, she stood with the Duke of Edinburgh for

a minute's silence. A moment of reflection,

joined by the footguards on the parade ground and the cavalry

at the palace gates - in remembrance of those lost

at Grenfell Tower, and in the terrorist attacks

in London and Manchester. In a statement issued at six o'clock

this morning, the Queen said: Yesterday she'd visited the scene

of the fire at Grenfell Tower and met some of those who have lost

friends and neighbours. It had clearly made

a deep impression. In her statement she said,

"I have been profoundly struck by the immediate inclination

of people throughout the country to offer comfort and support

to those in desperate need." The footguards marched and trooped

the colour of the Irish Guards, and the Royal family appeared

on the palace balcony, where Prince George

as usual stole the show, gazing down at the crowds, and then

as the RAF fly-past appeared, This was a year when the head

of state reflected the country's Nicholas Witchell, BBC News,

at Buckingham Palace. A judge in the United States

has declared a mistrial in the sexual assault case

against the entertainer Bill Cosby. The jury was unable to reach

a verdict after more than 50 The 79-year-old actor had denied

drugging and sexually assaulting a woman

at his home 13 years ago. Our North America correspondent

Aleem Maqbool reports. After so many accused him of being a

calculated sexual predator, Bill Cosby is free now to go home from

court. The jury didn't acquit him, but they could not unanimously

agreed to convey him either. Whee Kim looking for an acquittal, but

like leader that Rolling Stone says, you can't always get what you want,

you get what you need. -- Whee Kim looking. The victory was celebrated

by Cosby supported. 60 women came forward and accused him... Yes,

after 20-25 years. No, please. Back in his heyday Bill Cosby was the

most prominent African-American, the highest-paid actor, and undoubtedly

a trailblazer... Of the dozens of women who came forward saying he

sexually assaulted them, most couldn't go to trial because it was

so long since the alleged incidents took place. One case was heard in

court, though, brought by Andrea Constand, a former university

employee who claims that in 2004 he drugged and then molested her. All

of the jurors were not convinced. For now, Bill Cosby walks free, but

there is the prospect he is going to be retried, and there is no question

that in spite of this result his reputation as something of an

American father figure has now been tarnished.