181 high-rise buildings have failed safety tests in England and Wales

The government has disclosed that 181 high rise buildings across 51 local authorities in England and Wales have failed safety tests after the Grenfell Tower disaster. Meanwhile, residents who were illegally subletting their homes have been assured they won’t face any charges, partly to help put an accurate figure on the number of people who are dead or missing.

As survivors continue to treat the official death toll with scepticism, independent experts have been collating their own figures from residents and sources like council and phone records.

We’ve been speaking to Michelle vonAhn who was a demographic adviser for a London council and is now collaborating with a team of online volunteer investigators on Grenfell. We asked her whether she accepted that officials can’t be certain about the exact numbers.