Police have confirmed that the final death toll from the Grenfell Tower tragedy was 71. Officials say that after five months of painstaking search and recovery operations they believe they have found and identified all those who died during June’s horrific blaze. Although the initial figure was expected to exceed 80, police said that the figure had reduced because some people had been reported missing several times and some of those who lived in the block had been elsewhere on the night of the tragedy. Officials also said that some people were falsely reported as dead by fraudsters hoping to receive compensation. The final toll includes 70 adults and children who died in the tower during the fire, and one baby who was stillborn shortly after the heavily pregnant mother escaped from the 21st floor, suffering severe smoke inhalation on her way down. The mother survived. Metropolitan Police Commander Stuart Cundy said: “We have done a fingertip search, a forensic search of every single flat and every single communal area. We have pushed the boundaries. “We have worked with experts and specialists from all over the world because we need the families to have absolute confidence in the process we have undertaken.”
