Queen visits London fire volunteers as locals plead for answers

This number is likely to rise still further, Metropolitan Police Commander Stuart Cundy warned.

Police also said they have launched a criminal inquiry into the fire.

There have been demands for answers as to how the blaze was able to engulf the 24-storey building along with complaints that not enough was being done to provide assistance for those left homeless or information about those still missing.

At least 500 people lived in the 120-flat building, but it is not clear how many were in the tower block at the time of the blaze.

She added: "I saw women and men flashing phones, flashing everything their hands, T-shirts, anything to say we're here".

After meeting with Grenfell survivors on Friday, Ms May announced a 5 million pound (AUS$8 million) fund to help them and expressed sorrow for their plight.

More than 200 firefighters worked through the night and parts of the building were still seen as being unsafe.

The area surrounding the council-owned tower has been plastered by desperate relatives with pictures of the missing, from grandparents to young children, and large numbers of volunteers were assisting survivors.

He told BBC's This Week: "She should have been there with the residents, which is what Jeremy Corbyn was".

The cladding - to beautify and insulate the building - had a plastic core and was similar to that used by high-rise buildings in France, the United Arab Emirates and Australia which had also suffered fires that spread.

Emergency services have been trawling through the building in north London for the third day in an attempt to locate more bodies with hope diminishing of finding any more survivors.

Jim Fitzpatrick, an MP with the main opposition Labour Party, slammed the Conservative-led government for shuffling its feet on the review.

Prime Minister Theresa May faced cries of "coward" and "shame on you" as she returned to the site of the devastating fire in west London after being criticised for not meeting victims in the wake of the tragedy.

The PM had earlier visited Chelsea and Westminster Hospital to meet staff and patients who were caught up in the fire.

The move came after strong criticism from London's mayor, Sadiq Khan. "How many children died?"

Kai, who was with his mother Jade, then asked: "What are you going to do with people's life?"

The fire brigade said the inferno was unprecedented in its scale and speed.

One of the first victims was named as 23-year-old Syrian refugee Mohammed Alhajali, with the Syria Solidarity Campaign director Kareen El Beyrouty launching a campaign towards funeral costs.

The appeal said: "Mohammed Alhajali undertook a unsafe journey to flee war in Syria, only to meet death here in the United Kingdom, in his own home". She lived on the 16th floor.

According to the Times of London, the cladding's manufacturer said its use is banned in the U.S. on high-rise buildings "because of the fire and smoke spread".

The cause of the fire is under investigation, and authorities refuse to speculate on what could have started the blaze.

The focus for investigators is external cladding, which appeared to act as an accelerant for the flames that swept up the newly refurbished 1970s tower.

Engineering experts have speculated that outside insulation panels installed on the 24-story Grenfell Tower may have helped the fire spread rapidly from one floor to the next.