Sheffield firefighters observe minute's silence after tower block blaze

They lined up outside the fire service HQ in Sheffield city centre to observe the silence at 11am.

It is feared that 79 residents may have died in the fire at Grenfell Tower, north Kensington, last Wednesday.

Metropolitan Police Commander Stuart Cundy said five people had been formally identified and the rest were 'sadly' missing presumed dead.

He said the 'awful reality' was that it might not be possible to identify all the victims.

Some families have lost more than one member, he added.

Footage from inside of the 24-storey tower has been released showing the extent of the damage.

He said it had been 'incredibly emotional working in there', adding: "On Saturday I went in myself and went to the top floor. And it is incredibly hard to describe the devastation in some parts of that building."

"Sadly, as of this morning, I am afraid to say there are now 79 people who we believe are now dead or missing and we have to presume they are dead.

"I have investigated major crime for most of my service and I have seen some terrible things. But I don't think anything prepared me for what I was going to see when I was in there.

"It's hard to describe my feelings, because I cannot imagine, and I would not want to put myself in the position of those families who have lost their loved ones.

"But being with colleagues from the London Fire Brigade when I was in there, colleagues from the London Ambulance Service and other police officers, I think it's fair to say it is incredibly emotional working in there.

"But we will do it with our utmost professionalism and we will do everything we can as quickly as we can to locate everybody who is in there."