Protesters storm govt offices as London fire toll hits 30

Angry residents stormed local authority headquarters on Friday demanding justice as the death toll from the London tower block fire reached 30, with dozens more unaccounted for.
Fire-fighters continued the grim search for human remains in the burnt-out shell of the 24-storey Gren­fell Tower, as anger grew over the use of cladding blamed for spreading the flames.
Protesters stormed the Royal Borough of Kensing­ton and Chelsea council offices, saying they wanted answers over Wednesday’s disaster.
“It was a death trap and they knew it,” one person shouted as demonstrators swelled outside the building, with dozens going inside.
“I have friends in the tower and they are not telling us anything,” said Salwa Buamani, 25, who came with her three-year-old niece on her shoulders.
Earlier police announced that the number of confirmed deaths had risen from 17.
“We know that at least 30 people have died as a result of this fire... I do believe the number will increase,” police commander Stuart Cundy told reporters in front of the charred high-rise.
Cundy said police had started a criminal investigation but there was nothing to suggest “that the fire had been started deliberately”.
He also said the last flames had finally been extinguished, two days after the fire broke out early on Wednesday in a working-class enclave of the wealthy Kensington district.
More than 70 people are unaccounted for, according to media reports, although it was not known whether some of those were among the bodies recovered so far.
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