The toll in the London fire that destroyed a 24-storey block apartment in north Kensington rose to 79 on Monday, The Independent reported. The police said the toll from the Grenfell Tower fire is expected to increase further.

On Saturday, the toll stood at 58. The building was home to more than 100 families.

Metropolitan Police Commander Stuart Cundy said on Monday that five people had been identified. “As I said, today we know there are 79 people who are either confirmed dead and have been identified, or are missing and sadly I have to presume are dead. I do think there will be some change to that number,” Cundy said.

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“The work we are doing is about trying to find those people to see if they are safe and well, and thankfully, over the last few days, we have identified five people who people believed were missing, are safe and well,” he added. Cundy said some families have lost more than one member in the fire.

He also said it might not be possible to identify all the victims owing to the intensity of the fire and devastation it had caused.

The toll has consistently risen – first from 6 to 12 to 17 to 30 to 58 and now to 79 – since the blaze broke out on Wednesday morning.

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On Saturday, British Prime Minister had said that she believed the official response to the fire was “not good enough”.

“The response of the emergency services, National Health Service and the community has been heroic,” the prime minister said in a statement. “But frankly, the support on the ground for the families who needed help or basic information in the initial hours after this appalling disaster was not good enough.”

The police had said they will investigate the refurbishment of the building in 2016 and also vowed to act against those confirmed responsible for the tragedy.

Earlier, an investigation of the supply chain had revealed that out of the two available options, a cheaper, more flammable material was used in the cladding to cover the Grenfell Tower.