Speaking to media outside the West London building site, Metropolitan Police Commander Stuart Cundy said, "The fire was truly horrific".
Grenfell Tower, the 24-story building that was engulfed in flames, had been the subject of resident complaints over fire safety for years.
"Sadly at this time, there are 58 people who we have been told were in Grenfell Tower on the night that are missing and therefore, sadly, I have to assume that they are dead", Cmdr. "My commitment to families is that as soon as we can, we will locate and recover their loved ones", Cundy said.
Prime Minister Theresa May, who ordered a public inquiry into the disaster, was criticized on Thursday for visiting the scene of the fire, but talking to officials rather than victims or survivors.
Police surrounded Ms May as she left the church, where a crowd of angry protesters had gathered, shouting "shame on you!" and "coward!"
Following the meeting, May released a strongly-worded statement in which she said on-the-ground support for families in the immediate aftermath of the blaze "was not good enough".
However, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson took to Facebook to attack Labour politicians for "political game playing", defending his record regarding the fire service as mayor of London between 2008-2016. "We have cancelled the spiritual retreat so that we can offer bedding to people", said Tabassum Awan, who is volunteering at the mosque.
French woman killed, 11 hurt by explosion at Colombia mall
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos expressed his solidarity with the victims and ordered an investigation into the matter. The Andino shopping center in an exclusive area of Bogota was evacuated after the blast in the second floor women's toilets.
Later that afternoon, demonstrators stormed the offices of Kensington and Chelsea Council over its handling of the crisis amid concerns that earlier renovation work was linked to the rapid spread of the blaze.
Police say they may never be able to identify the bodies from the Grenfell Tower fire. "I really hope it won't, but it may increase", he said.
Grief and disbelief at seeing a tower that had been home to up to 600 people reduced to a burned-out shell turned to outrage and anger.
Sixteen "very ordinary people" sat in Downing Street to bring their concerns to May in an "unprecedented" meeting on Saturday and finally felt they were listened to, the Bishop of Kensington, Dr Graham Tomlin said.
She reiterated her promise of a public inquiry which will "report back to me personally" and pledged victims' legal costs would be paid by the Government.
Two days after the fire broke out early Wednesday in the local authority-owned apartment block, firefighters were yet to access some of the floors due to worries about the stability of the structure.
May announced on Friday that her government has set up a £5 million ($8.4 million Cdn) "discretionary fund" to help pay for food, clothing, personal supplies and funerals. Mansur said people were not satisfied with the answers they were being given.
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