Fake News in the Midst of Terror

On June 14, 2017, an uncontrollable fire broke out at the Grenfell Tower in West London. It took firefighters almost a day to get the fire under control. The cause behind the fire was a Hotpoint fridge freezer on the fourth floor, Due to the high intensity of the fire, approximately 151 homes were destroyed within the tower and surrounding areas. Victims young as a newborn died in the catastrophic event. However, media outlets and police reports informed the public with different fatality numbers. Police stated the “official number of confirmed dead was 30, the BBC estimated the number of dead and missing to be more than 70.” So, why is there a lot of difference? BBC reports that “overestimating numbers can cause undue alarm to families waiting to hear about loved ones and it can damage confidence in the police.”

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