practice yesterday. but tonight his colleagues, both republicans and democrats will go ahead with their annual game. it s a rare show of political unity. less unified, president trump hits back at reports he is under investigation for obstruction ofjustice. he calls it the biggest witch hunt in history. and the australian prime minister pokes fun at donald trump s winning ways. we ll let you judge the impersonation. i am christian fraser in london, katty kay is in washington. we still don t know how many people died in the grenfell tower blaze police say it will be more than the current death toll, which stands at 17. and such is the destruction inside the building it could take firefighters weeks to recover the remains. today sniffer dogs, much lighter than people, and specially trained to locate bodies, have been sent into the building to help with the search. 37 people remain in hospital, 17 are in critical care. our home affairs editor mark easton has this report. slowly,
still unaccounted for, young and old, many of which were trapped on the upper floors of the building. jessica, she s still missing. going to be 13 next month. lovely little girl. bubbly personality. we just want her home. the local community have been leaving messages for loved ones as they try to come to terms with what happened. good evening and welcome to bbc news. a public inquiry has been ordered into the fire that devastated a residential block of flats in west london. 17 people are now known to have died. a senior police officer said the total would rise, but he hoped the number would not reach triple figures . many residents are missing, with whole families unaccounted for. during the day, fire crews have been searching the tower block, but they have warned it could take weeks to complete the work because the higherfloors need shoring up. our home editor mark easton has this report. slowly, inch by painstaking inch, fire officers continue their grim and dangerous wor
today and then announced a full public inquiry. we need to know what happened. we need to have an explanation of this. we owe that to the families, to the people who have lost loved ones, friends, and the homes in which they lived. they went in when others were running out how are the firefighters coping with what they re calling a once in a lifetime fire? we ll have the latest from here in west london in this extended programme. stay with bbc news throughout the day for all developments from our london correspondents from the scene at the london tower block fire. good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six from west london. behind me, grenfell tower its 2a storeys now just a charred shell. once home to hundreds of people today it s an ugly reminder of a tragedy that many people around here believe could have been avoided. the scale of that tragedy is becoming much clearer. seventeen people are now confirmed dead but the police believe the final figure will be hig
he s suggested russia could offer asylum to former fbi directorjames comey, who donald trump sacked. welcome to outside source. the scale of the tragedy at grenfell tower is becoming much clearer. 17 people are now confirmed dead, but the police believe the final figure will be higher. the first victim has been named by friends and family as mohammed alhajali, a syrian refugee who came to the country in 2014. theresa may has ordered a full public inquiry into the incident. here s our home editor mark easton‘s report. slowly, inch by painstaking inch, fire officers continue their grim and dangerous work. amid the soot blackened shell of what was once home to hundreds are some who did not make it out. exactly how many, we do not know, but the emergency services are warning the scale of this tragedy is yet to become clear. the agony of a wounded neighbourhood is written on a wall, the desperation of people searching for family and friends. prayers and solace from near and far.
survivors in hospital this morning, and is chairing a special taskforce this afternoon. we will have a live report from west london shortly. the other main headlines this hour: a second soldier has died following an incident involving a tank, at an army firing range in pembrokeshire. a service of hope is being held at southwark cathedral in honour of first responders, families and survivors of the london bridge attack. president trump has confirmed that he is personally under investigation for sacking the former head of the fbi, james comey. good afternoon from west london, where the number of people known to have died in the grenfell tower fire has risen to at least 30. police say they believe the final total will be higher. this morning the queen and prince william visited the scene, they went to a relief centre which has been helping victims of the fire. they spent time speaking to local residents, volunteers and members of the emergency services. also this morning, ther