Grenfell Tower tragedy: London authorities deny '42 bodies found huddled in one room'
The bodies of 42 people have been found in one room among the ruins of the deadly Grenfell Tower blaze, a London man has claimed.
Video footage has surfaced of the unnamed man claiming a fire fighter friend told how the recovery team made the grim discovery of the bodies "from children to old people" huddled together.
The clip, shared Sunday on YouTube, shows the man speaking with a friend in front of the destroyed 24-storey apartment building in west London.
"I've got a friend who works for the fire brigade here, yeah? Yesterday on the phone he said they found about 42 bodies in one room, all hiding together. No-one knows that," he said.
"It's only because we know the brother, he's a fireman, that he told us this."
His friend added: "But he can't tell you lot that."
The man continued, saying his fire fighter friend couldn't reveal that information himself "because he'll probably get the sack or something".
"But he said they found 42 bodies in one room, bruv, in one room. From children to old people."
The man, who said in the clip he was Moroccan, told of how he knew other Moroccan families who had lived in the flat and remained missing.
He accused the media of “hiding” information about the recovery, but authorities have discredited the claim.
His incredible admission was widely reported by UK news sites, and echoes the feeling of many Londoners who believe authorities are being silent about the number of people who died in the June 14 inferno.
On Monday, Police Commander Stuart Cundy confirmed 79 people were now dead or missing presumed dead - an increase from the previous number of 58.
However locals believe the true figure to be much higher, given the tower housed 600 people and few survived.
The London Fire Service and Metropolitan Police denied knowledge of the 42 bodies.
“That doesn’t sound right to me,” a London Fire Brigade spokesperson told news.com.au.
“It’s the first I’ve heard of it. You’d think it would have come out by now.”
A police spokesman said: “It’s nothing we’ve been made aware of. Personally I’m not aware of that, no.”
Metropolitan Police Commander Stuart Cundy said determining an accurate death toll was “difficult” because it was unknown how many people were inside the building when it was engulfed in flames.
