With the 24-storey Grenfell tower in west London still smouldering, questions are now being asked about how the fire spread and killed so many.
Hundreds of people were inside the building when the fire started shortly before 1am on Wednesday, London time.
When it eventually flamed out of control, many on the higher floors wound up deciding to jump, rather than face the flames.
Some parts of the structure remain unsafe for firefighters to enter, and officials say some of the victims may never be identified.
The first victim identified was a 23 year-old Syrian refugee living with his brother, Mohammed Alhaj Ali.
London Fire Brigade commissioner Dany Cotton says the full scale of the disaster is not yet clear.
"We are unaware of how many people were in the building. As you can appreciate, it's a very large building with a large number of people in there. There are some people who might have lived alone who we're not sure if they're in there or away with friends or family. There are people who are reported missing who subsequently might have been in rest centres or hospitals. So we are completely unaware at the moment. We can only work on numbers with the local authority and the police, of people we believe to be missing. And then, as I said, as soon as we can, we will go into the building, and we will do that painstaking, fingertip search in conjunction with the police and the DVI."
A criminal investigation has also been launched.
Suggestions that the outside of the block was recently covered with potentially flammable cladding in an effort to beautify it has fuelled anger.
Many people are now claiming warnings over the safety of the 120-apartment building were ignored for years.
Upset residents have interrupted London mayor Sadiq Khan during a televised press conference, frustrated with the response they have received so far.
Mr Khan has promised an interim report will be published within months.
"Understandably, the residents are very angry and concerned and have genuine questions that demand answers. And so, whereas - "
"Someone needs to be held accountable. These deaths could have been prevented."
"Where, of course, we welcome the call from the Prime Minister to have an independent public inquiry, we need answers now."
"Now. Not a year from now, not two years from now. We need it now."
"That's why I'm calling on the judge who conducts the inquiry to make sure there's an interim response this summer. We can't afford to wait a number of years, either for the inquiry or for the inquest."
The North Kensington neighbourhood where the wreck of Grenfell stands is a largely working-class, multi-ethnic area, next to some of Britain's richest suburbs.
More than a million pounds, or $1.7 million Australian, has already been raised for those who lost everything.
Nearby churches and community centres are also sorting through piles of donated clothing, shoes and food.
Many local leaders are determined to hold those responsible to account.
Community organiser Pilgrim Tucker says the fire was an accident waiting to happen.
"There's been a lot of regeneration. The land here is incredibly valuable, one of the most wealthy areas, one of the most high-demand housing areas, anywhere in the country, I would think. And I think these tenants are well aware that that's how they're seen, that assets are more important than them, property is more important than their lives."
Authorities say they do not expect to find any more survivors inside the blackened building.
But many families are refusing to give up hope.
Natasha Green says she is looking for her daughter's schoolfriend, a girl named Jessica.
"I'm worried about Jessica. This is my daughter's schoolfriend and a friend of ... basically, that we know in the area. And she got separated from her mum in the panic in the early hours of the morning, and, obviously, as you can imagine, as a mother, she's frantic. She was told that she was at hospital. She went to hospital only to find it was the same name but wrong girl. And we're just devastated and so frantically looking for her."
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