15/06/2017 BBC News at Six

the number of people killed in the London tower

block fire is now 17 - and it's set to rise.

Specialists are making the Grenfell Tower safe enough

for fire crews to recover the victims.

It's the upper floors that will be more

challenging and we will need some additional shoring for us to be able

The size of this building, it could take weeks.

The writing on the wall tells its own story -

dozens of people are still listed as missing

Jessica is a 12-year-old vibrant young girl who will

She's a lovely little girl with a bubbly personality.

We're just worried and concerned about her and we just want her home.

It happened in front of their eyes - first there was shock,

then there was grief - now residents want answers .

But there is a public anger underneath and we

do want to see someone held accountable for this.

Theresa May visited the scene today and then announced

We need to have an explanation of this.

We owe that to the families, to the people who have lost loved ones,

friends, and the homes in which they lived.

They went in when others were running out -

how are the firefighters coping with what they're calling

We'll have the latest from here in West London

Stay with BBC News throughout the day for all developments

from our London correspondents from the scene at the

Good evening and welcome to the BBC News at Six from West London.

Behind me, Grenfell Tower - its 24 storeys now

Once home to hundreds of people - today it's an ugly reminder

of a tragedy that many people around here believe

The scale of that tragedy is becoming much clearer.

Seventeen people are now confirmed dead -

but the police believe the final figure will be higher.

The first victim has been named by friends and family

as Mohammed Alhajali - a Syrian refugee who came

This afternoon, Theresa May has announced a public inquiry.

It follows growing anger among residents here.

The Queen has sent a message of sympathy.

Our first report on this devastating fire is from our home editor.

Slowly, inch by painstaking inch, fire officers continued their grim

and dangerous work. Amid the blackened shell of what was once

home to hundreds are some who did not make it out. Exactly how many,

we do not know that the emergency services are warning the scale of

the tragedy is yet to become clear. Sadly I can confirm the number of

people who have died is now 17. We do believe that number will sadly

increase. There are 37 people receiving treatment of which 17 are

still in critical care. The agony of a wounded neighbourhood is written

on a wall, the desperation of people searching for family and friends.

Prayers and solace from near and far. For the past two days Jason

Garcia has been searching for his 12-year-old cousin Jessica. I feel

helpless. We are hoping that, by putting up posters, sharing her

image on social media, and talking to people like yourself, that maybe

someone with information will get in touch. Syrian refugee Mohammed

Alhajali, an engineering student seeking a better life in Britain was

named by his family as having died in the fire. People crave answers,

but complain of delays and evasion. At the moment we are grieving, but

there is a bubbling anger underneath and we want to see somebody held

accountable for this. The love and generosity that has poured into

North Kensington cannot make up for the numbing sense of loss. The Prime

Minister made a private visit today, speaking to emergency workers before

announcing a full public inquiry into what went wrong. When I spoke

to the emergency services they told me the way this fire progressed and

took hold of the building was rapid and ferocious and unexpected. We

have to get to the bottom of this. The Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn also

went to North Kensington, insisting he would speak up for the community.

Shock and grief are joined by outrage and anger. The question is

raining down, like the charred lumps of cladding, which locals hold up as

possible evidence that people were housed in a preventable death trap.

This tower block fire looks just like North Kensington. They came in

and said evacuate. It was three years ago in Melbourne Australia and

the similarities do not stop there. We have never seen a fire developing

this way. In my 29 years in the London Fire Brigade I have never

seen a fire of this nature. We never expected to see a high-rise fire

that would spread so quickly from the eighth to the 21st floor. In

London the fire raged from the ground to the 24th floor in less

than half an hour. Attention in Australia focused on aluminium

cladding, in enquiry blaming cheaper plastic backed cladding. The same

distinction is being made about Grenfell Tower, although the

authorities insist regulations were followed. The London mayor Sadiq

Khan was heckled by a group of people on a visit to Grenfell Tower

today. Feelings are running high. Understandably, residents are angry

and concerned and have genuine questions that demand answers and so

whereas... Deaths could have been prevented! The concerns are not just

about what went wrong in North Kensington, they are also about what

could go wrong in thousands of tower blocks in Britain. Residents in

Trellix Tower who can see Grenfell Tower from their balconies now have

a reminder of the risks of high-rise living.

It's coming up to 48 hours since the fire

began in Grenfell Tower and still there is no real sense

of exactly how many people might have fallen victim to the inferno.

In fact, in the last hour, police say they may never be able

If you walk around the streets here, or visit the temporary shelters

you will see handwritten posters listing the names of loved ones that

Our special correspondent Lucy Manning reports now

on two families' desperate search for relatives.

A warning - you may find some of the details distressing.

Mohammed Hakim fears he's lost everyone.

His mother, father, two brothers and sister.

All his extended family supporting him now rushed

to the fire when the calls of panic came.

I spoke to her, the last few words she said to me was,

please forgive me if I've said anything to upset you or hurt you.

I don't think we're going to make it out of the building.

They were supposed to be celebrating next month.

His sister, Huzna, was getting married, but the entire family

And they were reciting from the Koran.

It was just heartbreaking, and then it cut out.

She was, like, we're not going to make it.

We can't make it because there's flames under the door.

I kept saying, try and put things under the door to stop the smoke

coming in and get as low as you can come and open the windows.

Someone's going to come, call the Fire Brigade, do something.

All I could hear was this crackling noise in the background,

because the phone was still on, but she wasn't saying anything.

I really need to find out where they are.

The family stood helpless outside, unable to rescue them.

This is the worst thing I remember in my life.

He kept shouting, please, help us, get us out.

He was saying Allah's name, and all this.

Mohammed, it must be extremely difficult, just not knowing?

Not losing one member of my family, but losing

I don't have my parents any more and you only get one set

They are all gone, in a couple of hours,

after leaving their house, they are all gone.

And no-one wants to give us any information about their whereabouts,

if they are still within the building, or not.

They still have hope, but feel bereft of help.

Adel is another relative deep in grief and frustration.

Baby Leena, just six months old, is missing,

along with her mum, Farah, and her dad, Omar.

They eventually found two of the baby's

We found one of the children there, the younger.

My brother is looking around, and he is

Asks Farrah's older sister to have a look.

Farrah's older sister says, that's the other child,

They were beds apart and nobody in authority was making any

So many families here are looking, hoping, dreading

It's something we have become all too familiar

with in the last few weeks - the list of those who are

This is a wretched time for families and friends -

hoping for the best, but fearing the worst.

Our correspondent reports on those still missing in the Grenfell Tower

fire. Hour by hour, the roll call

of the missing lengthens. Friends and relatives, desperate

for information, have posted photos Khadija Saye is a 24-year-old

photographer whose work is on show She lived on the 20th floor

with her mother, Mary Mendy. Fatima, Mirna, and three-year-old

Zainab Choucair also lived She too lived on the 20th floor.

with their parents and grandmother. Her father was visiting friends

lower down and couldn't get back She was only making her way

down with some people Jessica is a 12-year-old,

vibrant young girl who's going to be She's a lovely little girl

with a bubbly personality, and we are just worried

and concerned about her Gloria Trevisan, an architect,

and her partner, Marco They had only recently moved

into the 23rd floor. They were unable to get out

and called the relatives around 4am A family lawyer said there was no

hope of finding them alive. Possibly dozens more

are still to come. Behind every picture,

there is a family, friends and loved ones searching,

hoping, and in some Fergus Walsh reporting. We can go to

Scotland Yard now. I gather the police have been giving an update on

the investigation. Yes, and they are warning it will be a very long and

difficult process. The building of Grenfell Tower is still so dangerous

fire officers and police cannot get into some parts of the building to

find out how many bodies are there. They managed to recover six bodies

but in 11 bodies they have found are still in the building and they

believe the number of bodies in the building will be much higher,

significantly higher. Detective saying they hope that the final

death toll will not reach triple figures. Then the process of

identifying people will be difficult because of the damage to some of the

bodies from the fire. They will rely on dental records and many people

who lived in Grenfell Tower were recent immigrants and might not have

been to the dentist here. Detectives are worried they may never identify

some victims who died. They have taken 5000 calls to the casualty

bureau and 200 officers from eight forces are working through

information, calling people back to check if anything has changed, but

detectives are warning it will take weeks, if not longer, to work out

exactly who has died in the fire. Daniel, thank you. If you are still

looking for information there is an emergency number for anyone

concerned about loved ones. The police Casualty Bureau can be

reached on 0800 0961 233. As we've seen there's plenty

of anger and frustration here. It will be the job of the public

inquiry announced by the prime minister to provide the answers

to the questions on everyone's lips. How was the fire able to take

hold in just minutes. What about thousands of other

high-rise residential Our science editor David Shukman

looks at what more can be done The London fire has triggered

concern right across the country. In Belfast, fire safety leaflets

are being handed out Suddenly there's intense scrutiny

at every detail of the arrangements And while there are questions

about all tower blocks, the key focus is on ones that have

been fitted with cladding. All day there's been pressure

from safety experts for every council building to be made

safer with sprinklers. People don't die in

sprinkler buildings. A single death in a sprinkler

building is a very, very extremely One of many tragic aspects of this

tower block disaster is that for years experts have warned

of the dangers of fire. Back in 2013, a coroner called

for sprinklers to be fitted A fire in south London

had killed six people, but the recommendation wasn't

followed and sprinklers are usually Next, having just one staircase -

like in Grenfell Tower - has repeatedly been criticised

as a hazard, limiting the chance for people to escape

and for firefighters to get in. And there have long been

concerns about cladding, the panels fitted

outside the buildings. These are usually metal with a layer

of insulating material. Back in 1991, the rules

about them were tightened, but regulations do not require

that the panels should never burn. Some critics say the current

system of testing them The cladding at Lakanal House

in south London was judged to have intensified the blaze

there eight years ago. An architect who gave evidence

at the inquest of the six people who died there says promises

of action led nowhere. He fears the same could

happen again this time. When something like Lakanal House

happens, they are all eager to go on television saying "lessons

will be learned, our thoughts are with the families" and so on,

but then nothing happens. It may be that the horror

at Grenfell Tower will bring real change but it will be

a monumental task. And in the meantime the company that

did the refurbishment work, Rydon, says that it met all regulations

and now welcomes the public inquiry. As we've heard, both Theresa May

and Jeremy Corbyn were here today. In parliament, MPs have been

questioning Nick Hurd, the government minister responsible

for the fire service. He described the Grenfell Tower fire

as a "national tragedy". The Labour MP David Lammy,

who's friend in the tower block is still missing,

has called for a criminal The Prime Minister met

firefighters who have given everything at Grenfell,

but none of the families that have She met volunteers on the ground,

but returning to Number 10, the focus today, getting

help to those that need it. The Government stands ready

to provide every assistance necessary to the emergency services

and to the local authority. I know we've all heard

absolutely heartbreaking, as I did this morning,

heartbreaking stories of the people that were caught up in this

terrible, terrible tragedy. The Labour leader was on hand

in a local church, hearing fears... Somebody has to be held accountable,

somebody has to be held responsible. We do not want this kicked

into the long grass. We do not want the Government

to hide this with some hollow platitudes

that lessons will be learned. They knew.

They knew that Grenfell was unsafe. We cannot allow people to live

in a dangerous state, and that is a worry,

but the resources have to be found and we will demand and make sure

those resources are found. With worries for people

who live in similar blocks and so much still unknown,

MPs demanded a meeting When we talk about this

as a tragedy, we're talking about it The truth is, it wasn't

some natural disaster. We look to you both, as ministers,

to leave no stone unturned in getting justice and getting

to the bottom of this. It's really important

that there is utter clarity today about whether people should stay

in their flats in the event of another horrific fire,

which could happen this afternoon, as we speak here, or

whether they should leave. The Government did promise

all the survivors would get We have to act and think

as if it was our friends, We have to have that emotional

connection with what is going on, because there is no room for cool,

detached, plodding bureaucracy. Yet only those that lost their beds,

their homes and their loved ones Our political editor

Laura Kuenssberg is in Westminster. Laura, we barely understand this

tragedy, but it's already It certainly is. An incident on this

scale, it has been described by government ministers today is a

national disaster. It is an emergency of such gravity with the

death toll expected to rise that it has already become a significant

issue for the Government and of course at a very volatile time. The

first priority however is to focus on getting help to where it is

needed. They have announced this afternoon a scheme where they will

provide extra cash for the council to make sure they have enough

resources to deal with the immediate situation, and they want to get on

with having a full public inquiry, Theresa May announcing that pretty

rapidly. That will be led by a judge and it will get going pretty soon.

There are layers of accountability in terms of figuring out what

happened, the housing association, the company involved in doing the

refurbishment, the Council and the Government. But there is no

question, the handling of such an awful on sensitive situation is very

risky for the politicians and it may well be that once this inquiry gets

up and running that are very uncomfortable truth emerges here at

Westminster. Potentially some people expect it may show that not just

this Government but previous governments have simply not done

enough to make sure this kind of housing is safe and that when

looking at regulations, safety has not been taken seriously enough.

Those results will only be known in the course of time, but there is a

sense here that of course the emergency is most immediate and most

awful for the people who have been caught up in it, but the events just

a couple of miles from here are also a big political challenge. Laura,

thank you very much. I just want to show you these

pictures, this is a Fire Service drone and it has been running up and

down the facade of Grenfell Tower. Remember right now what the

specialists are trying to do is establish how safe the building is

for the Fire crews to go in and begin the recovery operation. So

that has been happening while you have been watching the reports from

Laura and listening to Laura. We have seen that drone systematically

going from window to window and just checking out.

Within hours of the fire breaking out, the streets around

here were filled with tables covered in food, water and clothes

for those that have lost absolutely everything.

In fact, there have been so many offers that some temporary shelters

Our correspondent Elaine Dunkley is at the Latimer Road community

Generosity is keeping this community together, and still more things are

arriving. Last night and today there was a constant stream of people

donating food, clothing and offering time. Right now there are people

packing boxes and more things are still arriving. The message for now

is no more perishable foods but charities in this area desperately

need vans and storage. It is resident in this community who have

taken such an active role in trying to organise the goods but there has

been criticism that the council could do more to coordinate

collections. From all over the country,

donations are arriving, Many have not slept since

the fire destroyed homes. We are working under

an umbrella of humanity, So that communities

do come together. There are Muslim people

donating to churches, and I was one of them,

there were Christian people It's just a network of not races,

not colours, not anything, Many people felt helpless as they

watched the tower block on fire. Donating food and clothes is helping

this community heal. I lived in New York

when the towers came down. Just, generally, you want to help,

you want to do whatever you can. But as well as generosity,

there is frustration that food and clothes are being left

on the street. We're trying to create

a central base here. He's organised a sorting facility

to take collections. We don't want any bags left

on the street that's been sent I don't think people need to send

so much stuff any more, but people need to support

the community in whatever In the midst of this

horror and destruction, There's a bit of upliftment,

a bit of seeing that we have a lot Clothes are going here,

food only is going there. As more boxes arrive, those

who are trying to help are feeling overwhelmed and say the council

could do more to organise But I've got to say, the council

sort of dragged their feet a lot. We've just come to help,

and there hasn't been any contingency plans,

there hasn't been any strategies. I've got a week off,

and I've just given my time But there are so many people here,

and I'm just waiting The local authority says

it is trying to manage donations, but says the priority is finding

homes for vulnerable families. How do you respond to the criticism

from people around here that the council hasn't done

enough to help? Well, I'm sorry there

is that criticism. In fact, we were very quick

to set up three emergency They are staffed by council staff,

who have expertise in looking after younger people,

older people with particular Tonight, most residents

are in temporary accommodation. What people need is

a roof over their heads. And as well as donations of course,

people have been offering emotional support. We can see a wall of

tributes, people from all faiths and backgrounds coming together to have

a moment to think about the people who live in this community and the

people who are trying to work so hard together to stay strong. We

have seen so many flowers and as the day has gone on, they have had to

put up more boards so people can leave messages of sentiment. For

this community it is a difficult time and people are doing so much

just to keep everyone together and to offer thoughts and prayers.

Elaine, thank you very much. Amidst the devastation, stories of

bravery are emerging. More than 200 firefighters tackled

this blaze yesterday, entering the building when it was still

burning as they tried to help And their work isn't over -

they're now involved reports on the firefighters

and the impact this Hero! This guy, look at that, hero!

It's impossible to imagine how anyone would willingly run into this

but that's exactly what more than 200 firefighters did. The main thing

with this building on the night was the speed the fire moved from the

bottom to top and the thick black smoke that filled the air, filled

the building. There were real challenges for us. We have people

quite rightly wanting to get out of the building. Have you ever seen a

fire like it? I have never seen a fire of this scale in my whole

career. I have seen lots of fires in the London Fire Brigade but nothing

on this scale. Exhausted, having spent hours tackling a fire that has

been described as unprecedented in its scale and the work is far from

over. Now comes the tasks of making the building safe enough for search

and recovery. You have a chance to speak to some of those involved, how

are they doing if not physically, mentally? I have spoken to quite a

few people, they are OK. The main thing is that they are tired but

they are so keen to ensure we complete the job. They were on duty

again a lot of them last night, some will be on duty again tonight and

they want to come back and assist. Thankfully only a handful

They went in to try to save people. In that. They are heroes. Sarah

Campbell reporting on the firefighters.

Ben Brown has been covering this over the past two days. You have

been here all this time. How has this story changed while you have

been here? I think we have seen more and more of generosity of spirit

with people donating anything they have to help the homeless. What we

have seen today is rising anger. A raw anger that perhaps was not there

yesterday because there was shock. The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan came

here and there was heckling with people saying they want answers now.

They said we want answers right now. He was getting quite a rough ride

and almost anyone in authority is being challenged by residents. I

have talked to people from other tower blocks who are angry and

fearful. They are saying, are our home save? And the distress when you

talk to people who fear they have lost loved ones, friends. There are

people sobbing uncontrollably. One man we spoke to looking for his

brother who these Syrian Solidarity campaign have confirmed have died,

Mohammed Alhajali, who fled the Syrian civil war to come to safety

and died in the fire here. Thank you. Let's get the weather now.

Today we are seeing a weak cold front moving east stand behind good

spells of sunshine and in the fresh air, showers across Scotland and

Northern Ireland. They will clear eventually but overnight further

rain on the western side of Scotland and by the end of the night is not

as warm as this morning but still the start of the day around 12, 13.

Many places a good three degrees less one. Temperatures will start

rising in these strong sunshine and by ATM we are up to 15, 16. On the

western side of northern England, west Wales, more cloud, but drive.

Spots of rain in Northern Ireland and parts of Scotland though some

parts of eastern Scotland having something brighter in the morning.

Through the day we will see rain in the north-west of Scotland and rain

in Northern Ireland and northern England but a lot of dry weather in

the afternoon with Sunshine for Medi. Quite warm. Not particularly

windy. -- for many. Rain in northern parts of Scotland. Low cloud in

coastal areas. By dawn on Saturday, temperatures up to 15, 16 degrees.

Friday into Saturday will be a difficult one for sleeping. Into the

weekend a warm start to a warm weekend. The winds coming in from

the south, bringing in warm air, which will be widespread on

Saturday. Up to 28 in the south-east on Saturday and as high as 30 on

Saturday. George.

We leave you with these pictures of Grenfell Tower now.

In the next few days, fire crews will begin

For families wanting some news, it could be a long wait, certainly

From all us in west London, it's goodbye.

Now on BBC One, we can join the BBC's news teams where you are.