The towering inferno.

[Workingman]

This goes back to what I said on Thursday.

The hell for those seeking loved ones will go on until somebody comes up with definitive lists of survivors and deceased. There should also be a list of known tenants who are not on those other two - they must now be missing, presumed dead. There might also be an unknown number of unofficial residents.

My God, when tragedies happen in third world countries these lists go up on boards within hours and they get updated regularly as and when the missing are found, dead or alive.

[miasmum]

But maybe there will never be a definitive list WM. I was just googling and 40% of those lost in 9/11 have still never been found or identified.

I'm obviously being too simplistic here, but having seen the photos of inside and outside, surely common sense tells you, if your relatives were in there then they are dead. I understand, well as much as I can that that is a hideous thought and not one anyone wants to just accept, but the people in hospital surely by now have been identified, the known victims have been named, therefore if you are not either or those then sadly your relative is likely to have perished. Walking round the area with posters of your loved ones is not going to produce a miracle

[Suff]

The tower block had 120 "one and two bedroom" apartments. The initial estimate of people affected was 400 to 600. At the upper level that's an average of 5 people per apartment.

Given that the authorities don't even know how many people lived there (to a range of some 200 people), it's going to take weeks to sift through the wreckage, find all the bodies, carry out identity checks.

This, to me, is relatively simple as MM states. Unless your relative is in a coma and can't be identified, then you can pretty much assume that they are no longer in the land of the living. I believe there are 19 seriously injured, still, it means you have to wait. Granted information needs to come out, but the dead are, exactly that, dead. The living are a very different priority and keeping relatives advised of who is alive is not the absolute first priority.

Given the state of affairs with not knowing exactly who lived there, plus other confusion, I would expect it to be fairly chaotic no matter what is in place to deal with it.

Lessons should be learned, but we live in an "instant on" technological world. People think if they have to wait 30 seconds to know something it's too long. They also try, repeatedly, to get the same information, even though they have left their name and contact details. Only making the situation worse with the poor sod's trying to answer the phones, email, twitter, farcebook and a dozen other ways to ask questions.

[miasmum]

Spot on Suff

[Gal]

I'd have thought a check on the council tax register for those registered as living in the tower, will prove who 'should' be there, alive or not.

[Diflower]

A family of five were found today who had got out though, presumably either lost their phones or didn't have any other family to inform they were ok.
It was a lady who had been giving them English lessons who had reported them missing.

[Kaz]

I think the powers that be are sitting on the figures. I saw 70 something quoted in one newspaper, when it will probably be in the hundreds.